


Heroes in the Darkest Times

by Diodol



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Nightmares, OC Looks After Cody, Physical Sickness, Slightly a Slowburn, injuries, most everyone lives, profuse swearing, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:40:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27694279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diodol/pseuds/Diodol
Summary: Georgia is a strong-willed, independent, plus-sized woman with a quick wit and sharp tongue--AKA she swears a lot.Somehow, a vicious clash between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Asajj Ventress brings her into the world of The Clone Wars, where things are a little different to how she remembers.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely readers! This year has been incredibly stressful. Uni has proved quite the challenge, so in moments when I need to take a break or quiet my test anxiety--I turn to my hobbies. Obviously, writing is one of them!  
> Sometimes my creative flow cannot be contained to one or two things, thus this fic was born. There will be moments of utter fluff, smut and violence. It will be clone centric, as I love my boys in white. I haven't decided the main pairing for this fic just yet, that plot bunny hasn't hit me. ETA--it's probs Cody.  
> Updates will be sporadic, especially with exams approaching. I appreciate all your support, and especially love receiving comments!
> 
> Enjoy!

Georgia had been at work, doing her own thing, when all of a sudden she felt an awful stomach ache. She frowned, and touched her stomach lightly. It persisted for several long moments, drawing her from her work. The pain grew swiftly, migrating through her body and into her temples where a headache took her vision suddenly.

She howled in pain while grasping at her head desperately, brought to her knees by the quick pain.

Distantly, her coworkers called out to her.

With a pop of her ears, she abruptly found herself spread-eagle in a field. Loud banging and shouting and screaming surrounded her, and she struggled to come to her senses. The headache and stomach pain subsided to a dull, throbbing ache with a rush of adrenaline.

She rolled over onto her knees and took a look around. The field was littered with chunks of scrap metal and people dressed in white. Bright flashes of red and blue zipped all around.

“Oh, my…” someone gasped next to her.

Her attention snapped to a man in similar apparel, but his face was uncovered. He looked rather taken aback, grey eyes wide with surprise. 

“How interesting,” hissed someone on her other side. It a was tall, slender woman with tattoos on her face. She had no hair and wore black clothing; a sneer adorned her sharp features.

Georgia frowned and staggered to her feet, “Okay, what the hell is going on here?”

The woman laughed lowly and darted off into the trees, leaving Georgia with the gaping man.

Georgia turned to him, “Seriously, how the hell did a bunch of LARPers get me out of my site and into a field?”

The man blinked slowly, then visibly shook himself. “Larpers?”

“Yeah,” Georgia crossed her arms, “role play? That’s what you guys are doing, right? Looks like Star Wars. Nice job on the clone armor, looks legit.”

He frowned and asked slowly, “Where is your… _site_?”

“Calgary?” Georgia said slowly, “did you not take me from there?”

“I’m afraid not in the way you think,” said the man, frown deepening. “You’d better come with me while we figure this out.”

Georgia immediately felt on edge, giving him a quick once over. “No offense, but I’m not really chomping at the bit to go _anywhere_ with a man I don’t know.”

“I understand,” a small smile curled his lips before his expression turned sympathetic, “but I fear you have no other choice.”

“Why's that?” Georgia narrowed her eyes as several people in the clone armor approached them.

They were large, well over six feet tall and built like a brick wall. They had broad shoulders, big chests and thighs nearly larger than her own. They moved in sync with one another, blasters held firmly in their hands. She was a little intimidated, if she was completely honest with herself. 

“Sir?” One of them said, coming to stand next to the bearded man to which she had been speaking.

“Yes, Cody?” He replied.

“They’re retreating, sir. We’re holding the perimeter,” Cody reported, his voice filtered by his helmet. 

Georgia studied him a little closer, noticing that his armor had stripes of gold beneath the scorch marks and grime. He seemed to be the one in charge, the little antennae of his shoulder plate catching her attention. He also seemed to be just a bit bigger than the other two, shifting slightly on his feet like he couldn't stand still.

Her eyes narrowed as she mumbled, “ _Commander Cody?_ ”

The clone turned to her, his helmet tilting cautiously. She noticed the tightening of his stance as he seemed to study her.

The half-armored man sighed deeply as he crossed his arms in thought, scratching at his blond beard. “We always knew Ventress was powerful, but I've never seen such a thing before.”

“We saw it, too, sir,” Cody added, nodding at Georgia. The two troopers behind him hadn't looked away from her, and she found it a little unsettling.

She scowled, eyeing the two men suspiciously, “Well, I _didn’t_. Seriously, what happened?"

The bearded man scrutinized her for several moments, “I believe when I engaged with Ventress that somehow we created a break in time and drew you through it.”

Georgia balked, then snorted a laugh and waved his off, “That’s _ridiculous_.”

"You said we were role playing?” He cocked an eyebrow, inclining his head.

Georgia narrowed her eyes, _what's wrong with these guys?_

“You’re clearly Obi-Wan Kenobi, that’s Commander Cody, and if I had to guess, that’s Waxer and Boil.” She gestured to each trooper standing behind the bearded man. The men flinched backwards and glanced towards one another uncertainly, shifting their grips on their blasters.

Kenobi’s brow raised in surprise, “Impressive. How do you know who we are?”

“Because of the TV series, of course,” Georgia scoffed with a roll of her eyes, crossing her arms.

“Allow me to guess then: where you’re from, we are fictional characters?” He hazarded, squinting.

Georgia felt that anxious twist in her gut coiling tighter, “Obviously. Your characters are fictional everywhere!”

Kenobi stroked his beard for another moment, then turned to Cody, “Commander, boys, please remove your helmets.”

Georgia looked to the troopers as they hesitantly holstered their firearms and lifted the helmets from their heads.

Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open with a gasp.

They all had the same confused, but concerned face, looking back at her. Their skin was bronzed, with sharp jaw lines and brown eyes. One of them was bald, and one had the shadow of unshaven facial hair. And Cody, just visible from her distance, definitely had that recognizable scar on his left temple.

She shook her head vehemently, “No, _no_ , that’s just really good makeup!”

“I’m afraid not,” Kenobi gestured to the men next to him. “These are indeed clone troopers and I _am_ Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

“I don’t believe you,” Georgia said without conviction, still shaking her head.

“Obi-Wan!”

Georgia flinched hard and jumped back as another man appeared behind her, flanked by several more men in the clone armor.

“Anakin,” Kenobi said calmly, “we have a guest.”

The new arrival stopped next to Kenobi and turned to take in Georgia’s appearance.

She was sure she looked interesting, dressed in her uniform with a radio hooked to her pocket. The key ring from her site jangled lightly from its spot affixed to her belt loop. Her hair was probably a mess, too, she certainly felt like it.

The new man looked a lot like the Skywalker from what she remembered. Shaggy brown hair, dark clothing, blue eyes and a bulky right hand.

“I noticed, we saw it from the ridge,” Skywalker hummed. “Do we know what happened?”

“Like I told Cody, I think she came through some sort of portal when Ventress and I were fighting,” Kenobi explained, turning in to Skywalker. 

“You know, I love being talked about like I’m not even in the room,” Georgia grumbled with an eye roll. Her insecurity and fear at the situation were growing, so she felt she needed to find something to do. With a scowl she turned away from the group of men, searching for a landmark that may be recognizable. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and found that it wasn’t receiving a signal.

She swore, and started walking off as they conversed. One thing she _could_ do was search for reception.

“Sirs?” She heard one of the troopers interrupt.

"Yes, Cody?"

“Uh, she’s walking away, sir,” Cody pointed at Georgia’s retreating figure.

Georgia threw a scowl at Cody over her shoulder, but kept walking. She was headed for high ground, where she would hopefully find cell reception. There was a short rock face to climb, but she figured she could get a signal at the top. 

She scaled it carefully, but found it wasn’t too difficult of a climb. It wasn't very steep, and the rocks were lodged quite tightly in place. Wiping the dust from her pants, she pulled out her phone again and started moving around.

Kenobi turned on his heel to see that the woman had climbed atop a small outcropping. She seemed to be searching for something with a device in her hand.

“Cody, would you please bring her back here? I don’t trust that all the droids have left the area,” Kenobi frowned, concerned. He wondered fleetingly if running off was a habit of hers.

“Yes, sir,” Cody nodded shortly and jogged off to climb the same rockface, slipping his helmet back on.

"I have a feeling she's going to be trouble," Skywalker chuckled.

"Not any more than you are," Kenobi countered, shooting his former apprentice a pointed look. 

* * *

Georgia sighed in frustration, dropping her hand to her side. Her cell phone felt like a brick, heavy and dead. She looked off into the distance, seeing foothills and forests for miles. None of it was familiar, even the colour of the sun wasn't quite right.

 _Too red_ , she thought.

If what that man, _Obi-Wan Kenobi_ , had said was true, then she was well and truly _fucked_. She felt tears welling in her eyes, so she shut them tight to dam the growing flood of emotion. It wouldn’t do her any good to have a meltdown, not until she knew the entirety of the situation.

If she was really in the _Star Wars_ universe, then she had to have gotten there somehow. However, she had never heard nor seen anything of alternate dimensions in any books she'd read or movies she'd seen. Sure, she had read some fun stories about such a thing, but it wasn’t canon. So, then, how _the fuck was she here_?

She rubbed at her temples, acutely feeling the headache that had been simmering there.

“Ma’am?”

Georgia had heard someone coming, but was still a bit startled at the sudden voice. She took a breath to steady her racing heart, “Yeah?”

“You have to come down from here, we haven’t secured the area.”

She turned and found the Commander standing a respectable distance from her.

“I thought you said you were holding the perimeter,” Georgia snarked, her sarcasm slipping through her brain-to-mouth filter. _Not that I have much of one to begin with_ , she thought wryly.

Cody was glad she couldn’t hear his brothers snickering over the comm line. Boil and Waxer were watching them atop the little cliff, and with comms open all the troopers could hear Cody’s conversation with the woman.

“Yes, ma’am, but that wouldn’t prevent the Seppies from making a bomb run, or sniping from a distance,” Cody retorted.

She turned fully to face the clone Commander and spat, “So, _fucking let them_.”

Someone gasped in his ear. He frowned, “Ma’am?”

“Come _on_! I’ve somehow been sucked into an entirely different universe with _no way home_! I’m fucking useless here, if anything I’ll just get in the way," she tugged at her hair in frustration. "I’ll be damned if anyone is killed because of me!” Georgia was suddenly in his face, seething mad at the situation. She was failing spectacularly at keeping herself in control. Her hands shook wildly. 

Thankfully, Cody recognized the fear in her eyes and gently lowered her pointed finger from his face. Then he took his helmet off and attached it to his hip.

“What’s your name?” He asked softly. The others would still be listening, but he didn’t need to hear the peanut gallery in his ear.

His question seemed to take her by surprise.

“ _What_?”

“What’s your name?” He asked again.

After a moment of direct eye contact, when she noticed the rich brown of his eyes, she mumbled “Georgia,” and stepped out of his space with a quiet apology.

He smiled softly, “It’s nice to meet you Georgia, you seem to already know me.”

“Not for real,” she rolled her eyes, slipping back into her defensive sarcasm.

“Well, I’m Cody,” he held out his hand for her to shake.

Her gaze flicked from his earnest face to his outstretched hand, and back to his face. With narrowed eyes, she shook it firmly; he was impressed by her grip.

“Now we know one another ‘ _for real’_ ,” he smirked.

Georgia snorted, “You are not _at all_ what I expected.”

He raised an eyebrow, gently urging her towards the cliff where they had climbed up. He slipped his helmet back on to perform a quick scan of the area while he had a vantage point.

“Oh? What were you expecting?”

He didn’t see anything concerning.

“Honestly? A guy with a stick up his ass, but I guess reality is different from fiction, huh?” She said with a shrug.

Laughter erupted over the comms, and Cody barked a short laugh, “Guess so.” They reached the edge of the short cliff, and he gestured towards the others with a small smile, “You first, ma’am.”

“Why? You afraid I’ll slip and fall on you?” She said sardonically. Her insecurities surfaced again, as they always did. Georgia was a plus sized lady, and despite her best efforts couldn’t lose the weight she was so desperate to be rid of. It was something she abhorred herself for, and took it out on herself at every opportunity.

“No,” Cody said, ignoring her tone, “if you get shot before I do, the Generals will have my head.”

“I doubt that very much, Kenobi would never let anything happen to you,” Georgia grumbled, but ambled over the edge and carefully picked her way down.

The others met her at the bottom of the little cliff.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Kenobi asked as she turned, smoothing out her uniform.

“You mean a way home, to my _alternate dimension_? No, I didn’t,” Georgia snapped.

Kenobi winced imperceptibly; Skywalker cocked an eyebrow.

There was a beat of awkward silence. Georgia rolled her eyes heavily and grumbled, “ _Fucking idiots_.”

Cody jumped down the rest of the way, landing beside her with a _thump_.

“Generals, we should head for camp,” Cody suggested, standing at parade rest next to Georgia.

“Yes, Cody, we’ll head out now,” Kenobi agreed. “Rally the troops, we’ll leave immediately.”

Cody nodded, “Yes, sir! Waxer, Boil, with me!” Georgia watched as the three clones jogged off to presumably collect the others.

“Come, Little One, we have some distance to cover,” Kenobi gestured for her to follow him.

* * *

They had been hiking through the bush for at least an hour. Occasionally an odd-looking plant would catch Georgia’s attention and she was reminded again of her circumstances. She was still trying to come to terms with things, but it was nice to put her head down and focus on keeping her boots out of the entangled roots littering the ground.

As soon as things stopped moving and she had time to truly reflect on her situation, she knew any semblance of calm would crumble away. Hell, she had nearly bitten the poor Commander's head off and all he'd wanted to do was keep her out of danger. 

She groaned in self pity and rubbed at her face. 

Branches cracked off to her right. She came to a sudden halt, and snapped her head towards the noise. She strained to hear something over the loud pounding of her heart in her ears.

“Ma’am?” Rex had been walking behind her, and was caught off guard at her quick stop.

“Sh!” She hushed him, making a _quiet_ gesture with her hand.

He held up his fist to halt everyone behind him. Some grumbling filtered over the comms. Rex made a sharp gesture, and it stopped.

“What do you hear?” Rex whispered, leaning towards Georgia.

She pointed into the brush, “I heard something in there.”

Rex turned to look, flicking his scope down over his visor. He flipped through the settings until it settled on infrared, and his HUD lit up with the image of several, large, indigenous predators stalking them.

He activated the comm link to Skywalker, “General?”

_“What’s up, Rex?”_

“We’re being followed by native predators, sir. At least three, likely more,” Rex reported.

 _“Close ranks, we’re almost to the camp,”_ Skywalker ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Rex acknowledged, cutting the line. He nodded at Georgia, “Good ears, ma’am.”

She shrugged, “I pride myself for two things.”

He cocked his head to the side, indicating she could continue.

“My hearing and my sense of smell,” she finished, moving to hike forward.

“Not your eyesight?” Rex asked curiously, walking after her, gesturing for the other troopers to follow.

“Nah. Actually need reading glasses or I get a headache,” she explained.

They lapsed into quiet. It wasn’t much further until they stumbled their way into a field camp. Georgia wasn’t sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the organized chaos of a couple dozen troopers bustling in and out of camouflaged tents.

The men behind her shuffled past and joined the fray, so she chose to just stay out of the way and settle on the sidelines. She found a tree that seemed to be relatively inconspicuous, and slowly sat down. Her stomach still ached and the throbbing in her temples was intensifying.

She squinted through bleary eyes, not really paying attention to the bustling of the troopers. It didn’t take long for fatigue to creep through her body. While she hadn’t been in this world long, she was thoroughly wiped out. She crossed her arms over her knees, and set her aching head down on her forearms. Bits of her hair had escaped her ponytail and were sticking to her face, but she didn't have the energy to fix it.

Some time later, the noise from the troopers seemed to settle down. Georgia didn’t acknowledge it, but she would have appreciated it had the pounding in her temples not ratcheted up to an overwhelming thunder.

“Georgia?” Cody called from nearby.

She barely heard him, and couldn’t muster the energy to reply.

His footsteps grew closer.

“There you are, we wondered where you went to,” Cody jogged over to her.

She managed a short, barely audible grunt as acknowledgement.

Georgia heard him kneel next to her. A warm hand settled on her shoulder, “Georgia?”

She groaned.

“Are you all right?” Cody frowned, giving her a gentle shake.

“Head ‘n stomach…” she whimpered lowly, “hurts.”

“Hold on.” Cody brought his right gauntlet to his chin, “Kix! I need you over here now, Georgia’s ill.”

_“Right away, sir!”_

Not a minute later the 501st medical officer appeared at their sides.

“What’s going on, sir?” He said, taking off his helmet and cracking open his supplies.

Cody shook his head, “Headache and stomach pain, I think. She’s really uncomfortable.”

Kix nodded and slipped off a glove, reaching over to gently touch Georgia’s shoulder. Kenobi and Skywalker jogged over as well, having heard Cody’s call over the comms.

“Hey, Georgia,” Kix murmured, carefully tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Can you lift your head for me?”

Very slowly, she dragged her face from her arms, but didn’t seem to have the strength to hold her head up. A sheen of sweat glistened on her skin, and her short, rapid breaths indicated severe pain. Kix laid the back of his hand on her forehead, and found that her temperature was much warmer than it should have been.

“Good job, Georgia. Do you think you could open your eyes next?” Kix asked, picking out a pen light from his kit.

A few moments passed before she cracked open her left eye.

“I’m gonna check your pupils now,” he said, flashing the light in her eyes suddenly.

She yelped and flinched away from him, into Cody’s side, “Ow! ‘s fuckin’ bright!”

Kix frowned, “I know, I’m sorry.”

Both the Generals and Cody looked to him expectantly.

“Well, she’s got a fever and sensitivity to light. Past that, she needs to be evaluated in an actual med bay. I can give her some pain killers, but I’m hesitant to do too much without a proper exam,” Kix cautioned. “We already know she’s not my normal patient.”

“Feel like I’m gonna puke,” she grumbled into her arms. _Fuck, she hated feeling sick!_

“Don’t try to hold it down,” Kix said, digging in his pack for a specific medicine. “You might feel a little better.”

“Yeah,” she grunted.

Before she could notice, Kix grabbed her arm and administered an intramuscular injection. The pinch of the needle made her stomach twist, and before any of the boys could react she had leapt up and rounded the tree, heaving.

“Whoa, easy!” Cody admonished lightly, jumping to pull her loose hair from her face. Luckily, she hadn’t had much to eat yet that day, so she wasn’t able to produce anything but bile.

It still burned her throat and filled her mouth with the unmistakable taste of vomit. She groaned pitifully as she gasped for breath. Cody rubbed her back gently as Kix also rounded the tree to hand her what she could only guess was a water pack.

“Drink that, the pain killers should kick in within ten minutes. I want you resting near me tonight, so I can watch over you,” Kix ordered.

She shook her head and instantly regretted it. Grasping at her temples, she spat the drool from her mouth onto the ground. “I won’t take you away from anyone else that needs help.”

Kix rolled his eyes so hard she could nearly feel it, “Well, fortunately for _us_ and unfortunately for _you_ , you are my sickest patient. _And_ , I outrank everyone in medical matters. This universe or another, you’re my patient. So, you’re going to be right next to me.”

Georgia managed to lift her head to glare half-heartedly at the field medic, then turned slowly to grumble over her shoulder at Cody, “Is he always this bossy?”

Cody chuckled lightly, “Yes, but he’s the finest medic I know, so we best follow orders.”

She scowled, “Fine.”

Together, Kix and Cody steered Georgia into the small clearing. Skywalker and Kenobi had given her some privacy, and were off discussing matters.

Some of the clones gave her a curious look as they passed, but with a sharp glare from Cody, they turned away.

“Right here, lay down on this roll nice and easy—good job,” Kix only let her go once she was sitting on the ground. “Okay, now try to get some rest. I’ll be right next to you if you need anything.”

“A blanket would be nice?” She asked quietly, easing herself down on her side.

“I’ll see what I can scrounge up for you,” Kix replied and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Kix, you’re the best,” she mumbled, finally feeling the sharp edges of her pain start to wane.

He flushed lightly and Cody chuckled.

* * *

While her pain had indeed become much more manageable, Georgia did not fall into sleep easily. Each time she closed her eyes and fell into some semblance of rest, her body jerked awake.

It was well into the night when she woke for the fourth time. The dull throbbing in her temples was beginning to sharpen, and her stomach rolled uncomfortably.

She laid awake, holding her breath. She tried to force her muscle to relax, but each attempt brought on swift nausea and black spots in her vision. Tears welled in her eyes at the strain she felt in her body. She felt herself sweating again, and while she hated to bother him, she figured Kix would rather be woken up than puked on.

She gathered her strength and gingerly reach forward, tapping Kix’s backplate weakly.

It took him several long moments to stir and roll over. His eyes were tired, and a quick yawn slipped from his mouth. Georgia felt even worse for having woken him, seeing the state of his own exhaustion.

“Sorry, Kix,” she mumbled.

“S’all right,” he sat up quietly, “what’s going on?”

“Hurts again,” she choked down the feeling of heartburn.

“Okay,” he mumbled, reaching over for his kit. “When did it start again?”

A tear fell from the corner of her eye, slipping down her temple and settling in the shell of her ear. “I dunno. Haven’t really been able to sleep, been creeping up, I guess.”

He sighed, giving her a half-hearted glare through the corner of his eye, “Why didn’t you say so?”

“It was manageable, and you were tired,” she curled into herself a little more, clutching angrily at her rebelling stomach.

“Oh, _ad’ika_ ,” he sighed again tiredly. “I wish you had told me sooner.”

She gave him a weak, pained smile and whispered, “ _Sorry_.”

“C’mere,” he smiled back, kneeling over her. As he brought the dose closer to her, she tried desperately to focus on anything else.

“Easy, ad’ika. It’ll be quick,” he consoled, administering the medicine as swiftly as he promised.

She cringed. “Thanks, Kix.”

He smiled again and repacked his kit, “No thanks needed. Just let me know as soon as it starts to get worse.”

She nodded minutely.

“Seriously,” he pointed his finger in her face earnestly, “wake me up if you need me.”

Georgia smiled softly and tucked her chin under the thin blanket that Kix must have covered her with the first time she had fallen asleep. “Seriously. Okay.”

He nodded succinctly, then laid down again for sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Georgia pukes.   
> Again.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when camp was ordered to be packed up. They would be leaving the planet right away.

All the troopers were up and moving in short order. Some that had been injured were a little slower to get going. Through the hustle and bustle, Kix found Georgia was still sleeping. He decided it would be best to allow her as much rest as possible. He joined his brothers in the efforts to prepare for departure.

Some asked him about Georgia, still passed out on the ground. He told them to leave her be.

It wasn’t half an hour later that things were nearly ready to go. Kix headed back to Georgia and found Commander Cody was already kneeling beside her. The Commander turned at his approach, a concerned look on his face.

“Something’s wrong, Kix.”

“What do you mean, sir?” the medic questioned, kneeling on Georgia’s other side.

“She’s not waking up,” Cody frowned, his brow furrowed.

Kix immediately checked for her pulse. “For how long?”

“I’ve been trying for several minutes, but she hasn’t even budged,” Cody said.

Kix swore, her pulse was weak and thready. He shook her shoulder roughly, “Georgia!”

No response.

“Georgia!” He barked again, tapping her cheeks and shaking her shoulder.

Cody’s mouth pressed together in tight line, “I tried the same thing.”

Kix switched to high gear, breaking his kit open again. “When does the first transport arrive?”

“Four minutes,” Cody replied without checking. He had been keeping track.

“She needs to be on it, Commander,” Kix ordered, digging for stims.

“Understood."

“What’s going on?” Kenobi asked over their shoulders, having heard the commotion and jogged over.

“She’s not waking up, sir,” Cody reported as Kix injected Georgia in the neck with a stim.

Kenobi’s eye brows knit together, “What do you mean?”

Kix kept shaking her shoulder, trying to encourage a response from the unconscious woman.

“She woke me last night. The first dose of meds didn’t last long, she’d been laying awake for hours until it got to be too much again,” explained Kix.

“Have you discovered the cause, yet?” Kenobi questioned, watching concernedly as the two clones tried to rouse her.

Kix shook his head, “Not yet, sir. She still needs to be examined in medical; I don’t have the facilities needed to tell more.”

Everyone missed Georgia’s eyes snap open and her nostrils flare. She suddenly surged forward, breathing heavily. She knocked into Kix and Cody and staggered to her feet clumsily. Her eyes were wide and she wobbled unsteadily on her feet. It felt like her heart had jumped into her throat. She couldn’t breath.

Kenobi grabbed hold of her elbow to steady her. Kix jumped up to check her vitals.

“Easy! Easy!” Kix soothed, grabbing her face to force eye contact.

Her eyes were wild, but she latched onto his support and blinked rapidly.

“Hey, _ad’ika_. That’s it. Slow breaths,” he said softly, taking some exaggerated breaths to guide her.

She closed her eyes, but Kix rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks, “Nuh uh, none of that. Keep looking at me.”

Her eyes snapped open and he smiled. “Good, now breath with me.”

After several long, deep breaths together, Kix felt her pulse begin to normalize. “That’s it, thought we lost you there for a minute.”

Georgia took a step back and rubbed at her eyes with a deep breath, still feeling her racing heart. Her cheeks tingled where Kix's hands had been.

“What happened this time?”

“You wouldn’t wake,” Kenobi tilted his head. “How are you feeling?”

She took a second to do mental evaluation of her physical self. Her body ached as if she’d been fighting a fever for weeks. Her neck felt like a twist tie, and her entire abdomen felt stiff and uncomfortable. The migraine was there, but the adrenaline was helping hold it back.

“Like shit," she sighed.

Kenobi nodded, “The first transport’s here. You and Kix will be the first ones to leave.”

“Transport?” she questioned, just before the telltale warble of a gunship approached. She recognized the sound from the series, but it was so much louder in real life. It reverberated in her bones, vibrating the air around her. She watched it come around and land smoothly in a zone cleared by the troopers. Another gunship circled above in holding, waiting to land next.

A warm hand on her shoulder drew her attention, Kix had already gathered his things and was ready to escort her to the med bay.

“C’mon, Georgia, let’s get you sorted,” Kix smiled and nudged her forward.

The stims that Kix had given Georgia wore off quickly. He had only given her a small dose, so Kix hadn't expected it to last long. He hadn’t expected her to drop like a bag of sand in the gunship, retching.

"Just put me out of my misery,” she groaned pitifully. She hadn’t produced anything, but she still clutched her belly angrily.

Kix chuckled lightly, “That’s too easy. C’mon, let’s get you to the med bay.” He helped her up, and kept a hold of her elbow. His grip was warm and steady, and she appreciated it as the gunship shifted and she wobbled unsteadily.

Despite feeling like utter garbage, Georgia tried not to let too much of her weight fall into Kix’s hold.

Once they landed on board the _Negotiator_ and were enroute to the med bay, she noticed odd looks coming her way. Most were troopers, but there were other people that weren’t clones.

 _That’s new_.

The next thing she really paid attention to was their arrival at the med bay. The space smelled and looked clinical. Beds lined one wall, tall tanks of blue on the other.

A short, red-haired woman met them at the door.

“Hey, Kix! How was Hedat?” the woman greeted brightly.

“Hey Roobs, I have quite a story for you,” he replied, helping Georgia to the nearest bed. “First, Georgia needs some help.”

The woman rushed to her side, “Oh, honey, what’s going on?”

“We don’t really know,” Kix started, but hesitated.

“Okay, what _do_ we know?” Roobs prompted, helping them set Georgia up on the bed. The heavy-set woman paled considerably just as she rolled over the other side of the bed and retched again.

Kix sighed empathetically and gently patted Georgia between the shoulder blades, “You’re looking at it.”

Georgia panted and wiped away a string of spittle from her mouth. “He’s leaving out the part where I’m from a different dimension.”

Roobs tilted her head sharply and frowned. “ _What_?”

Georgia groaned deeply and sunk into the bed, “I’m not from any world in this universe.”

Kix’s lips thinned as he scowled, “When General Kenobi engaged Ventress they tried to Force one another, and then Georgia seemed to just…” he gestured vaguely, nearly at a loss for words, “seemed to just fall into existence.”

Roobs scoffed, gently urging Georgia to roll onto her back. “You do know how ridiculous that sounds, right?”

Kix shrugged, “Couldn’t make it up if I tried. She’s been experiencing serious stomach pain and migraines ever since.”

The civilian doctor blinked stoically, then nodded slowly as she processed the bizarre situation. “Okay… well, let’s start with a full physical and go from there, I guess,” Roobs grabbed a datapad and tapped a few commands.

Covering her eyes with her elbow to block out the light of the med bay, Georgia huffed a sardonic laugh. “Just what any person wants to hear from their doctor. ‘ _I guess’_ my _ass_.”

Roobs eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline, then narrowed her eyes at Kix, “How long has she been with you boys?”

Kix tried to smother a laugh, but failed. “Believe it or not, Roobs, that just seems to be how she is.”

“ _Wonderful_ ,” the doctor grumbled under her breath.

* * *

Kenobi and Skywalker stood before the Jedi council, arms crossed with matching frowns on their faces.

“ _Explain_ ,” ordered Windu, no room for argument.

Kenobi shook his head lightly, “Unfortunately, we don’t have an explanation. As I said, this woman appeared from Ventress and I’s conflict, and has information that is not widespread.”

“ _What kind of information?_ ”

“She knew the names of my troopers, and Anakin’s,” Kenobi gestured to his fellow General. "And she knew who we are."

“ _How is that a concern?_ ” Vos piped up, splayed out in his chair haphazardly. Kenobi shot a short, condescending look at the long haired Jedi. While he provided a unique perspective, Kenobi didn't agree with him sitting in on such sensitive matters. 

“The troopers names, especially ours, are not really known outside the ranks,” explained Kenobi.

A beat of silence passed between the Jedi, until all eyes turned to Yoda for guidance.

“ _Not enough information, is this, to condemn this woman. Investigate further, we must,_ ” Yoda declared, tapping his walking stick on the floor.

“Agreed,” chorused Kenobi and Skywalker.

“ _Bring her to us,_ ” Windu ordered, then terminated the connection.

Both Knights shared an intrigued look, before turning to head towards medical.

* * *

It had been a while since Georgia had been brought to the med bay. In that time, Roobs and Kix had run a battery of tests that Georgia truly didn’t understand. The duo was talking amongst one another while examining results on another datapad.

They had given her some stronger pain medication that seemed to be doing a fine job of keeping the migraine and nausea at bay, which allowed her to feel just how tired she had become. She tried closing her eyes to rest, but as soon as she felt some modicum of comfort, the doors to medical opened and Kenobi and Skywalker waltzed in.

“Doctor, Kix,” Kenobi greeted kindly, “how’s it going down here?”

Roobs hummed thoughtfully without looking up from her pad, “Well, I have a theory.”

“Oh?” Kenobi prompted when the doctor didn’t continue.

“I believe her body is adjusting to our time and space,” Roobs said, setting the pad down beside her.

“What do you mean?” Skywalker asked.

“Nothing glaring showed up on any of the tests, except that she has absolutely no immunity to any human diseases in our time. This seems to be evidence that she’s not from here,” Roobs scratched at the base of her hairline.

“That is interesting,” Kenobi studied the woman before them. She looked similar to how he had last seen her, the same clothing and wild, curly, dark blonde hair, except her pale skin looked almost purple in the light of the med bay. “Is she well enough to stand?”

“I believe so, but her body needs some serious time for rest and recuperation,” Roobs directed as she put her hands into her lab coat pockets.

“The council wishes to see her,” Kenobi supplied.

“That should be fine, just don’t keep her for too long,” Roobs agreed, but gave both Jedi a stern look. “I’m not joking.”

Kenobi nodded, “Understood, thank you, Doctor.”

Georgia chose that moment to get off the bed, stifling a yawn. The others had presumed she was sleeping.

“All right, then, let’s get this over with then," she sighed. 

Kenobi gave her a startled gaze, but it quickly morphed into an impressed look. “Right this way, Miss Georgia.”

As they walked down the corridor, Skywalker finally seemed to notice her uniform.

“Security?” He questioned out of the blue.

She grunted an affirmative. “I work nights as a security guard, putting myself through school.”

“That must be a lot of work,” Kenobi chimed in from ahead.

She was quiet for a moment, listening to the jingle of the key ring against her hip.

“It is.”

They stepped into a room that was dark save for the number of glowing blue figures floating in a circle, watching as the three walked into the room.

Yoda was immediately recognizable, Mace Windu on his left. Georgia struggled to place the others, unsure of their names but some faces seemed familiar.

All eyes were on her as she stepped forward with Kenobi.

“Masters of the council, this is Georgia,” he introduced, then stepped to the side.

“Uh, hi?” She waved awkwardly. Windu was glaring at her, and his sharp eyes put her on edge.

 _“Greetings, young one,”_ Yoda nodded to her. _“Quite the journey you've had, we’ve been told.”_

“You could say that,” she agreed, catching the scrutinizing looks the other council members were sending her, “but I’m not just here for introductions, am I?”

Yoda smiled, _“Intuitive, you are.”_

 _“You know information that is not open to the public,”_ Windu scowled. _“How?”_

Georgia took a conscious breath to hold steady under his unnerving stare. “Where I come from, this entire universe in fictional. There are movies, TV shows, and books about it. I’ve seen some, so I know about you.”

 _“What, exactly, do you know?”_ Windu pressed, leaning forward in his seat. 

She shrugged and stuck her hands in her pockets. Her hands trembled lightly. “What do you want me to tell you? I wasn’t a die-hard fan of series, but I know the major plot points. Mostly revolved around the Clone Wars.”

 _“Tell us about the Battle for Geonosis,”_ he demanded.

“Which one?” she responded.

The Jedi all shared concerned glances. Georgia frowned, “What?”

Yoda slowly turned his head back to face her. _“One battle on Geonosis, there has been.”_

“Oh,” she breathed, surprised. _So where exactly was she in the timeline?_ “Okay, well,” she started, crossing her arms, “the first battle. I know Mace Windu was there, Kenobi, pretty sure Skywalker, too. I think it was first major battle of the Clone Wars. Windu killed Fett, the clone template. He has a son, by the way. Kept one of the clones to raise as his own.”

Windu’s eyes narrowed further somehow. Georgia thought he might have been squinting.

Georgia rubbed her eyes with one hand, “I don’t know where I am, then. When I give something away, I could seriously change things.”

“Do you know the outcome of the War?” Kenobi asked.

She turned slightly to look at him out the corner of her eye, then nodded minutely. “I do. I know who runs the Separatists, I know who wins. I know what happens to a lot of people.”

There was a heavy silence in the room.

“If I am here to stay…” she said quietly, “I want to help.”

 _“What makes you think you’ll be staying?”_ said one of the Jedi she didn’t recognize.

“Because there’s no such thing as time travel? Alternate dimensions aren’t proven—until now, I guess. The exact conditions of my arrival are impossible to recreate, so there is a high probability I will never go home.”

They all seemed to have some semblance of agreeance to her statement.

 _“A heavy burden on your shoulders, this is,”_ Yoda broke the quiet that had fallen again.

“Yes, well. It would be a burden to anyone,” Georgia agreed. “If you would allow it, Master Yoda, I would like to speak with you in person.”

He nodded, _“Speak with you, I will.”_

“My ship is due for some repairs, we will head for Coruscant immediately,” Kenobi stepped up.

 _“See that you do, Master Kenobi,”_ Windu ordered.

Georgia sensed the end of the meeting coming, and stepped out of range of the projector.

The Jedi bid one another farewell and Kenobi and Skywalker turned to escort her back to the med bay. She was deep in thought, considering her options. She didn’t notice when Captain Rex and Commander Cody fell in step behind them.

She could spill the beans on everything. She could reveal Palpatine, the microchips in the troopers’ heads, _she could stop Order 66_. But where would that leave her? If she changed the fate of this universe, she’d no longer be able to know the future. Her very presence was a new card in the deck. How would she change things, just simply existing here?

What would become of her? Surely they wouldn't allow her to stay onboard a starship amidst the war, especially one that seemed to see so much action. But she also didn't want to be on Coruscant, in place where she knew no one, and knew nothing about the city. 

“Do I die?”

Georgia looked up from the floor, “Hm?”

“In this war, do I die?” Skywalker asked again, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Anakin!” Kenobi admonished.

Georgia held up a hand to hold Kenobi back, mulling over her response carefully.

“If I say yes, you die, will you act different on your missions? Try to save yourself? If I say no, you don’t die, will you become more reckless knowing that your end _isn’t_ coming?” She challenged. “You could get yourself, or others, killed in either instance.”

Skywalker’s face morphed into a thoughtful expression. “I—”

She interrupted him, “—this is what I have to ask myself. If I reveal the things I know, try to save the people I care about, will someone else die? Do I have the right to manipulate who lives or dies?”

“Yes,” he said adamantly, punctuating it with a sharp nod. “I’d argue it’s your duty to save as many lives as possible.”

“But I don’t belong here, Skywalker. Fuck, I don’t _have a duty_ here. All I seem capable of in this world is puking and fucking things up.”

“Why do you say that?” Kenobi asked over his shoulder as they continued walking.

Georgia rolled her eyes. “In my life, I have vomited a total of one time, when I was a child. Now, I’ve been here for less than twenty-four hours and puked at least three times.”

“I was asking more about the fucking things up,” he chortled lightly.

“Ah,” she snorted. “Well, either I do nothing and watch a lot of people die knowingly, or do _something_ and have no idea how things go down.”

“In my experience,” Kenobi waved his hand with a small smile, “we never know how things go down. That wouldn’t make any difference to us.”

“Fair point,” she mumbled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Georgia swears.

It was late. Most of the lights had been turned off or dimmed. Kix and Roobs had left the med bay some time ago, having given Georgia instructions on how to summon either of them if she needed them. She glanced to the little commlink on the table beside her, sitting inconspicuously.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, blowing her cheeks out. The heavy-duty pain medication was _beautiful_ , but after her discussion with the Jedi council, her fatigue had lifted. She lay awake in the bed for several more, miserable minutes before rolling off the bed to her feet with a growl.

It was frustrating. She wanted to sleep, to rest, but it wouldn’t come. So, she decided she’d go for a walk.

The med bay was larger than she had imagined on first inspection. There were some private rooms near the back, and several additional lines of beds. None were occupied. It seemed she was the only patient.

Having completed her cursory inspection, she grabbed the commlink off the side table and slipped it into her pocket.

 _Might as well explore while most people are resting,_ she thought.

The med bay doors opened with a quiet _hiss_ , she stepped out into the corridor. Neither direction called to her curiosity, so she chose to turn right, opposite of the direction that the room with the council had been.

She wandered aimlessly for a while, unsure how much time had passed. She passed by a few rooms that proved to be empty and boring. There was a larger room she figured was the mess hall, with long tables and a salad bar setup on the far wall.

It, too, was empty.

She continued. She found a gym, an indoor track, and a lot of storage spaces. She was definitely lost, but had no where to be and so was not too concerned about it.

 _Door number thirty_ , she tapped her chin thoughtfully, _what will you bring?_

It turned out that door number thirty led to the hangar bay.

Her mouth fell open in as she said, “Oh, my.”

“Well, no one’s around to stop me,” she hummed curiously, crossing the threshold into the enormous space filled with ships of all kinds, and _tanks_.

Many of the gunships had custom paintjobs, and she had to laugh at the pinup style Twi’lek woman on one in particular. She smiled wistfully as she laid her hand on the skin of the ship’s hull.

“Men are the same no matter what universe, huh?”

The metal was cool to her touch. She noticed some scrapes and scorch marks down the side, and wondered once again how things were different in this world.

She looked up to the Twi’lek woman again.

“What do I do?” she whispered brokenly.

They shared a stretch of quiet. Georgia couldn’t help but see the detail that had gone into the Twi’lek’s creation. Her eyes, especially, were bright and glimmering. Alive. She was giving Georgia a fierce smirk, and she idly wondered if she would ever look so drop-dead gorgeous.

Georgia sighed.

“I can’t let them die.”

The Twi’lek didn’t respond, but Georgia would have sworn under the dim lights of the hangar, her smirk softened into a smile.

The reason the Georgia knew the most about the Clone Wars was she simply fell in love with the characters, the clones most of all. They each had such wonderful personality, devotion and bravery. Despite all the trials they’d endured, they still picked themselves up and pushed onward.

Some likened them to drones, but they were so much more.

 _And they’re super handsome, more so in real life,_ she laughed to herself.

“I won’t. I won’t let them die,” she said with conviction. How to go about it, well, she would discuss that with Yoda. Skywalker might be a problem, he’d likely tell Palpatine about her at his first opportunity. She needed to plan for it.

She needed evidence.

* * *

Kix strode into the med bay at 0630 sharp, and was not prepared to see Georgia’s bed empty and the commlink missing.

Taking two short breaths, he picked up his own comm and opened the connection to hers.

“ _Kriffing di’kut_. Georgia? Where’d you go?” He asked, striding over to feel the bed. It was cold.

No answer.

"Georgia?” He called again with a scowl. _I swear, if she passed out somewhere…_

 _"Jesus fucking hell, how do you work this stupid thing?”_ her muffled snarl filtered through the comm.

He closed his eyes and let out a breath in relief.

“It’s working, Georgia,” he said, moving to collect her next dose of medicine.

 _"Oh. Great. ‘Sup, Kix?”_ Her voice got clearer as she brought the comm closer to her mouth.

“Where are you?” He asked, opening the proper cupboards. It was a simple enough concoction, he had it prepared quickly. 

_"I dunno.”_

Kix could hear the shrug in her voice.

“Why aren’t you in bed?”

 _"Couldn’t sleep,”_ she said.

“That’s why we gave you the comm, ad’ika,” Kix rolled his eyes and pocketed the meds. He walked just outside the med bay, preparing to hunt her down.

Cody rounded the corner and saw Kix exit the med bay with a look of frustration on his face.

“What’s going on?” He asked as he stepped up to the 501st medic.

“Jail breaker, sir. Georgia’s gone AWOL,” Kix sighed just before Georgia responded to him. 

_“Sorry, Kix. Didn’t want to wake you in the middle of the night.”_

Cody cocked an eyebrow. She did the exact same thing planet-side. _Self-sacrificing, interesting,_ he noted.

“We had this conversation, Georgia,” Kix growled, flashing an impatient look at the Commander.

 _“Well, I wasn’t hurting, so it wasn’t a big deal,”_ she snipped. Both Kix and Cody heard the telltale jangling of her keys in the background. She was on the move.

“Except that you were due for your next dose ten minutes ago,” Kix fought to wrangle his ire. Most of his brothers were accountable, but some would actively avoid him in medical matters. _This isn’t any different,_ he told himself.

“How do you feel now?” He snarked.

The comm was quiet for several moments and just when he was about to press harder, her voice came through in a softer tone.

_“Like I don’t want to keep wasting your medicine.”_

He sighed again. It was difficult to stay mad at her when she was so sure that she was a burden to them. Annoyed, though, yes. Kix definitely felt annoyed. 

Before he could respond, Cody brought his own comm to his mouth to reply to her.

“Tell you what, Georgia. We find you in twenty minutes, you take our meds because we want you to have them. If we don’t find you in twenty minutes, we will _consider_ what you’ve said,” Cody bargained. Kix narrowed his eyes, but the Commander just shook his head with a smirk.

He knew his boys could cover the ship easily in that time, and there was no way he would allow her to put herself through such pain because of her doubts. She would be taken care of whether he won the bargain or not.

But he was confident he would win.

 _“Five minutes,”_ she said.

“Eighteen,” he rallied. Kix rolled his eyes again.

_“Seven.”_

“Twelve,” he said firmly.

 _“Twelve,_ ” she agreed hesitantly.

“Perfect. See you shortly, doll,” Cody smirked again, terminating the link. “Get the meds ready, Kix. Meet me at the barracks in one minute.”

Cody arrived at the barrack as his men were rising. As they noticed his presence, they all jumped to attention.

“Easy, boys. We’re going to play a little game before breakfast.”

“Sir?” Waxer quirked an eyebrow.

“You all know Georgia?” He addressed the room.

“Yes, sir!” came the chorused reply.

“Well, it seems she’s skipped out on her treatment. Thinks she’s not worth it,” Cody scowled, inclining his head slightly.

Several dark looks passed through the men. They, of all people in the galaxy, knew a little something about self worth. Many had heard their Commander's conversation with the woman the day before, and rumors had spread like wildfire. But the few that had interacted with her so far found she was down to earth, and very smart. It was her, after all, that clocked the indigenous predators stalking them planetside before any of them had--and they were highly trained to identify threats. 

If nothing else, they held a certain level of respect for her. 

“We have just under eleven minutes to locate her.”

“Or what?” Waxer asked.

“Or I lose a bet. Now, she’s been on the move for most of the night. We don’t know where, but she won’t be in any restricted areas.” Cody grinned savagely, “Whoever finds her first gets a free drink at 79’s on the next shore leave.”

Competitive glances shifted down the line of determined troopers.

“Comm Kix and I once she’s located. Understood?”

_“Sir, yes, sir!”_

* * *

Georgia didn’t acknowledge the flush she felt in her cheeks at the word _‘doll’_ , instead wondered where she could conceivably hide from a group of troopers on their own ship. She didn’t have much time before they would flood the corridors, and they had the advantage in numbers.

“The hangar?” she asked herself, knowing it was just a couple turns away. “Yeah, lots of space to cover at the least.”

She sped back the way she had come, slipping back into the large hangar. There were plenty of stacks of crates she could hide behind, but they were too close to the door for comfort. She headed deeper into the hangar.

Several ships down the line, she found another group of crates tucked behind a gunship, out of view of the entrance.

“Perfect,” she mumbled and took a seat on one of the crates.

* * *

_“Mess is clear!”_

_“Gym’s clear!”_

_“East wing is clear!”_

_“Basement’s clear!”_

Georgia listened to the bustle of the troopers over the comm with a raised brow. _Fuck, they’re quick._

The sound of the hangar doors opening made her heart jump into her throat. She clamped a hand over the comm to silence it as she dared to peek around the edge of the gunship she was hiding behind.

A torrent of mental curses flowed through her brain, and it was a physical effort to hold them back. It was Rex, walking down the line of ships, checking behind containers and even inside ships.

 _Fuck_ , of course it was possibly the most thorough, fastidious trooper possible.

She resigned herself to her fate. She couldn’t outrun him, and there weren’t any hiding spots close enough to jump into.

His footsteps got closer. Her pulse quickened.

“I’ll admit," he said as he rounded the gunship, "I expected you to be much closer to the med bay."

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, “Yet you’re here?”

He shrugged, “Call it intuition.”

She scoffed, “Sure.”

He smirked as he brought up his comm.

“Found her, Cody. We’re in the hangar.”

 _“Copy that, on our way,_ ” Kix replied.

Georgia exhaled slowly, “So? How long did I last?”

“Well, had I not come to check here first, you might have won,” he grinned cheekily.

“Okay, well how long did it take you to get from the barracks to here?” She chuckled.

“After I finished getting dressed?”

“Asshole,” she jeered good naturedly.

“You do know we’re trained to cover this entire ship in a period of time less than twelve minutes?”

“No,” she crossed her arms petulantly. “That asshole set me up, then.”

“He did,” Rex confirmed with a chuckle.

They fell into a companionable quiet for several long moments, but Georgia watched as Rex’s expression shifted.

“What’s on your mind?” She asked, moving to stand. Her ass was getting uncomfortable sitting on the hard surface.

Rex hesitated, but finally asked, “Do you really know what happens to us?”

Her gaze dropped to study the floor, “In my world, I do. Now that I’m here? I’m not so sure. Some things are different enough that I’m doubting what I think I know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you guys for one thing. You’re way more outgoing and powerful than in my world,” she said, gesturing at him vaguely. He looked even larger than the others with his pauldron and kama. 

“Is that all?” He asked skeptically.

“I haven’t really been here long enough to compare much else,” she shrugged. “But in my world there’s no one aboard these ships other than clones, GAR officials, and the Jedi.”

“Perhaps things aren’t so different. If, in your world we’re all just a movie, that can’t be exactly accurate, can it? Holos never show everything,” Rex said.

She pursed her lips, “That’s an interesting thought.”

He shrugged again with a small smile.

Sighing slowly, she said the next first thing that came to mind. “You’re a good man, Rex. It’s why you’re my favourite.”

His brow rose, just as the hangar doors hissed open and several pairs of footsteps approached. She threw him a quick wink before turning to see Kix’s disgruntled expression.

“Hey, Kix,” she greeted. “Cody.”

Cody smirked with a quick quirk of an eyebrow, “So, I win.”

“So, you did, with help,” she said airily.

“It’s still a victory,” he claimed as Kix approached to check her over.

“Sure, hon, sure,” she hummed. “I’m _okay_ , Kix.”

“Really? You’ve only been active the _whole kriffing night_ when you should have been resting your body that’s been trying to tear itself apart!” Kix barked.

Georgia’s brow rose in surprise at his outburst, and before she could say anything in her defense he continued.

“We are going back to the med bay, where you will stay until you are cleared by myself or the doctor. Do you understand?” He glared, gently administering her next dose of pain medication.

“Uh—”

“--I swear, I will chain you to the bed and sedate you if I have to.”

“… I didn’t know you were into that, Kix,” Georgia said after a moment.

He took a menacing step towards her, but Cody clasped a hand on his shoulder. She still took a step back, bumping into Rex.

She put her hands up in surrender, “All right! You can sheath those eye daggers, I’m not going anywhere.”

She likened the visage of angry Kix to that of a raging bull: flared nostrils and a dark look, maybe some steam billowing out of his ears.

“Not going anywhere? You couldn’t have gone further from the med bay!” he muttered darkly.

They all started heading towards the entrance in silence. She thought it best to not tell him she hadn’t made a direct line to the hangar from the med bay, and in fact had put on several miles of meandering.

* * *

Roobs was waiting for them upon their return to the med bay. She had also not been impressed with Georgia’s nightly stroll, but was less confrontational about it than Kix.

Both ordered Georgia to bed, and kept a close eye on her throughout the day. At one point Kix offered her some food, but the sight and smell of it made her stomach roll uncomfortably. She politely declined, rolled over to feign sleep, and lay in silence the rest of the day.

Closer to when she figured it was the end of the day, long after her side had fallen numb, Roobs and Kix stopped near her bed.

“I still can’t believe it,” Roobs whispered.

“Yet there's proof.”

“What do you suppose will happen to her?”

“I don’t know,” Kix exhaled lowly.

“I could use some help around here," she hedged.

Kix huffed a short laugh, “You want to recruit her?”

“Why not? The poor woman has no where else to go, no one to turn to. I can’t even imagine being ripped from my life and thrown into a completely different _universe_ ,” Roobs defended.

Kix said nothing.

“I can’t imagine how lonely she must be,” Roobs sighed.

Kix hadn’t thought about that. He’d never really been alone, having grown up on Kamino surrounded by his brothers. Even here, on board the a Star Destroyer, he was always with his brothers. She truly had no one, did she?

* * *

Georgia hadn’t been thinking about being lonely, not until Roobs had said it. She’d been too focused on how to explain everything to Yoda, how to save as many clones as she could. And the Jedi.

Now she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The doctor and Kix had left the med bay a short while ago. They had agreed to leave her be, not wanting to ‘wake’ her.

She rolled out of the bed quietly, leaving the med bay once more. She couldn’t stand to lay there any longer trapped with her thoughts, Kix's warning be damned. He'd already said he didn't want to risk sedation after the incident topside when she wouldn't wake up. 

As she wondered the halls, the emotion welled up and broke through the dam she had built. She stumbled to a stop suddenly and bent over as heart-wrenching sobs racked her body. Tears flowed freely. She collapsed to the floor, arms trembling to keep her torso up.

And she cried. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Georgia makes a friend.

Yulick was haunted by memories.

He, Howl and Trip had been all that remained of their batch on Kamino. Their other brothers had tragically died in a training accident. The Kaminoans had labelled it a mishap due to faulty equipment, but Yulick knew better. He knew their training officer had meddled with the settings. They’d been set up to fail.

Two of his brothers had died because of it.

Then, on their first deployment in the 212th to Geonosis, Trip had shoved him out of the way of stray blaster fire. It had caught Trip in the neck, between the protective plates of plastoid. Trip hadn’t made a sound as he died, his throat had been burnt to a crisp.

Now, only he and Howl remained of Gamma squad. If he had been stronger, faster, or smarter, his brothers would still be with him. If he’d have figured out the TO’s malicious intent sooner—if he’d seen that blaster fire before Trip…

He struck the punching bag savagely. His knuckles were bleeding again, there was a spot of red on the target area. His focus narrowed onto that little spot, and he attacked it with fervour, striking the bag so hard that the chains holding it groaned.

A sound from outside the gym gave him pause. He panted hard from his exertion and his brow furrowed in confusion at the odd noise.

“Howl?” He called, thinking it could have been his brother coming to get him.

 _Again_.

There was no reply, but the sound turned into audible sobs. His interested peaked further, and he moved to open the door.

There, next to the door, was the mystery woman that all the boys were talking about. The woman that told the Commander to his face that he had a stick up his ass. The woman that was supposedly from an entirely different dimension that knew everything about the war. 

Her whole body shook with unrestrained sobs. His heart broke at the sound.

He cautiously approached her, afraid of catching her off guard, or scaring her. It seemed like a private moment, but she was also in the middle of the corridor. 

“Hey, are you okay?” He winced, _what a stupid question_.

Her body flinched at his voice, but her cries quieted.

“No,” she grumbled quietly.

“Should I get Kix?” He asked uneasily, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He didn't know the 501st medic personally, but he knew it would be easy to raise him on the comms.

“Please, no,” she exhaled sharply, then sniffled. “He’ll just give me shit.”

“Pretty sure I heard you were supposed to be in the med bay,” Yulick countered.

She sat up and leaned against the wall, “Yeah.”

At the lost look on her face, Yulick’s heart melted further.

“Come on,” he gestured to the gym behind him, stepping back across the threshold. He waited for her to follow, uncertain if she would.

He took a seat on one of the weight benches as she tentatively stepped through the door. She looked around the room and moved carefully, seemingly scared of walking in too far.

“Come here, have a seat,” he waved her over to the weight bench beside him.

She frowned lightly, but followed his instruction. She settled carefully on the weight bench, like she was afraid it would bite her.

He crossed his ankles and tucked them underneath the bench, gripping the edges with his hands. The stinging of his knuckles was of little consequence to him.

She worried her bottom lip, and Yulick’s eyes were drawn to the movement. He didn’t have much frame of reference, but he decided then and there that this woman was gorgeous. Her dark, blonde hair was a little astray, but he could still see the way it curled. Despite the redness, her hazel eyes held a spark of something his wasn’t used to seeing in anyone but his _vod_.

Sincerity.

When it was clear she wasn’t going to break the silence, he did.

“My brother, Howl, he struggles,” he started, glancing down to his bloodied hands. “We recently lost our third batchmate, and he’s taking it hard. He likes to talk about it, makes him feel better. So, I listen to him. Even if it’s the same story every time, I listen.”

Her expression changed as he spoke. He wasn’t certain how to read it, but she wasn’t crying so he counted it as a win.

“So, you can talk. To me, that is. If you want,” he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little nervous. “I haven’t got a lot of people to tell if it’s a secret.”

She smiled at him then, her stiff posture relaxing.

“Think you can handle it?” She asked, her voice cracking. She sniffled again.

Yulick shrugged nonchalantly, “Probably.”

“What do you know about me?”

“About as much as everyone else, I suppose. You’re from another universe,” Yulick pursed his lips thoughtfully.

She nodded absently. “I am. Unless this is a huge ass joke and you’re all messing with me.”

“No joke,” Yulick confirmed.

“Damn,” she sighed. “Part of me was still waiting for my sister to blow around the corner and hit me in the face with a bucket of glitter. _‘Hah! Got you good this tim_ e _!’_ But I don’t think anyone could make such an elaborate prank.”

Yulick knew a little about prank wars, his batchmates liked to pull pranks whenever they could get away with it. He told her of the time that Trip stole all of Howl’s blacks, forcing him to run drills naked under his armor.

She chuckled softly, “They sound like trouble.”

He nodded sagely, “They were.”

They lapsed into quiet, giving a moment to the memory of his lost brethren.

“I don’t think I’ll ever see my family again,” she mumbled, a fresh set of tears welling in her eyes. “And I’m _scared_.”

She sniffled again, “And I’m just fucking _tired_.”

“Can’t sleep?” Yulick quirked an eyebrow. He knew that feeling.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Kix won’t sedate me because of the whole ‘couldn’t wake me up’ thing.”

“What do you mean?”

She explained the incident the morning that Cody and Kix tried to wake her.

“That’s the last sleep I got—if you could call it that. Kix thought I was sleeping all afternoon, but how could I? My brain just won’t _stop_. I have to try to learn how to live in a whole new world, all while trying to save it.”

Yulick didn’t respond for a moment, chewing on her words.

“That’s pretty heavy.”

She barked a short laugh. “Yeah, it is.”

“Can I give you a piece of advice?” Yulick asked, noting the way her eyes had lightened.

“Sure.”

“We, as clones, live day-to-day. Some of us dream about the future, but we have to live in each moment. We don’t know when it’ll be ripped away,” Yulick said softly. “It sounds an awful lot like you’re trying to solve every problem at once. Just take it one at a time.”

Her eyes snapped to his, and they shared a moment of eye contact. He thought her eyes were really pretty, especially as she seemed to take his words to heart and they brightened.

“You’re a smart guy,” she smiled.

“I know,” he grinned.

“Thanks, for listening,” she said shyly. “You probably didn’t need to hear all my shit.”

He flexed his knuckles, feeling the ache.

_I_ _think I did._

Shortly after their conversation, Georgia had let out a jaw-cracking yawn. Yulick urged her to lay down on the spare mats.

 _“Might not be the most comfortable, but I’ll stick around if you wanna try a nap,”_ he’d said.

 _“Got a pillow?”_ She’d asked sarcastically as she had sat on the little stack of mats. They were surprisingly forgiving.

Yulick might not have understood her tone, because he grabbed something off the floor and handed it to her, _“Not a pillow, but you can roll up my shirt, if you want?”_

She hadn’t the heart to turn him down, not with such a genuinely kind look on his face. A tear crept out of her eye as she took it from his gently, _“Thank you.”_

True to his word, as she settled down on the mats and tucked his shirt under her head, he went back to his exercise. He went to lift weights nearby, but that time he left off the extra weight he usually would have added.

She passed out almost immediately.

Later in the morning, nearing the time most of his brothers were starting to wake, some trickled into the gym for their routine workouts.

“Early workout again, Yulick?” Max waltzed in, greeting him loudly.

Yulick hushed the boisterous soldier, gesturing towards Georgia sleeping on the mats.

Max’s expression shifted from a surprised _“Oh”_ to a salacious smile. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beside Yulick as the quieter clone finished his stretches.

“Got lucky, did ya?”

Yulick glared sharply at Max with a small shake of his head.

“Just let her sleep, Max.”

Max rolled his eyes, shrugged, then went off to bother his batchmate across the gym. Newcomers to the gym noted the quietness around them, but when Georgia was pointed out to them, they went about their business as well, sans the usual shatter.

Yulick’s comm beeped next to him as the Commander’s voice echoed through the air.

_“Does anyone have eyes on our escapee?”_

He picked up his comm, “In the gym, sir.”

Minutes later, the 501st medic blew through the entrance. Yulick couldn’t remember seeing one of his brothers so furious, granted he didn’t know Kix very well. Perhaps he was the angry type.

His penetrating gaze zeroed in on Georgia and he started bulldozing a path towards her. Yulick leapt to his feet to intercept him.

“Step aside,” Kix growled darkly.

“She’s sleeping,” Yulick met Kix’s glare and held steadfast. “She couldn’t sleep in the med bay.”

Yulick watched as Kix’s jaw flexed. The medic exhaled shortly, “Since when?”

“Oh-one hundred.”

Kix visibly deflated. “Good. She needs it.”

Yulick agreed, but said nothing. He stepped aside to let Kix by, sharing a nod of respect with the medic.

Kix moved to kneel next the sleeping woman, and tamped down on the fleeting moment of panic that she might not wake up again. Instead, noting the set of blacks under her head, and Yulick’s bare chest.

“Georgia?”

A warm hand was her shoulder. She groaned, tucking her chin into her chest.

“Come on ad’ika, it’s time for your meds.”

She cracked an eye open and sleepily recognized Kix. Humming an acknowledgement, she tightened her hold on the shirt and tugged it closer to her chest.

“Ad’ika?” Kix questioned, shaking her shoulder lightly.

“Yeah?” She mumbled.

“Just making sure you’re awake,” he breathed, reaching for the meds.

She hummed again, “I’m awake, Kix. No epi needed.”

He frowned briefly at the term ‘epi’, he’d remember to ask her about it later. “Good, I’m going to give you the pain killer now, ‘kay?”

“’kay.”

She didn’t flinch that time, and he gave the area of her upper arm a gentle rub to disperse the meds quicker.

“Do you want to keep sleeping?” He asked, checking her pulse on her wrist. It was slow and steady.

“Dunno. Got anything else t' do?” She slurred.

“Not right now,” he smiled softly and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Come find me when you’re up.”

“’kay.” She snuggled back into Yulick’s blacks and seemed to drop right back into sleep. Kix turned to Yulick, who had been watching over their interaction.

“I hope you don’t want those back right away,” Kix gestured to the shirt in Georgia's grasp.

Yulick shook his head, “She’s—”

Max appeared again, roughly slinging his arm around Yulick’s shoulder, “He’s just excited that he gets to smell like a girl when he gets it back.”

Yulick rolled his eyes and tried to shrug off Max, but his boisterous brother didn’t budge.

Kix chuckled, “You’re jealous.”

“Am not!” Max rebuked.

Kix smirked, “Sure you are. You just wish it were _you_ she was all cozied up with, isn’t that right?”

The others in the gym laughed and gave verbal confirmation that Max would have _loved_ to have been curled up with her, with anyone really. Max wasn’t picky, he just liked to cuddle.

Max scowled at his brothers for selling him out. Yulick ducked out of Max’s hold while he was distracted.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, Max. We all enjoy physical contact that’s not sparring,” Yulick said.

One of his brothers coughed in the background.

“Get your head out of your pants, Reid,” Yulick scowled.

The clone with a hair that was just longer than regulation gave him a mock salute.

* * *

Later, after having eaten his breakfast, Howl went to find Yulick. He was cleaning his blaster meticulously, studying each piece for flaws in his bed.

“So…” Howl started, pulling out his own blaster to disassemble. “I heard you made a friend.”

Yulick’s eyes flickered to Howl’s. “Who spilled?”

“Who do you think?” Howl snickered. “But it doesn’t really matter. What’s she like?”

Yulick frowned, “Terrified. I found her crying in the middle of the halls.”

“Oh,” Howl blinked. “You were in the gym again, weren’t you?”

Yulick grunted.

“Nightmares?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you fix your knuckles?” Howl asked, not looking up from his blaster. He already had it put back together. He didn’t need to see Yulick’s hands to know that his knuckles were a bloody mess. He never took care of himself in that way.

When Yulick didn’t answer, Howl stood with a sigh. He collected the little med kit he kept stashed under his bed for instances like this, and returned to Yulick’s bed. He popped it open and grabbed Yulick’s left hand to start.

Yulick didn’t put up a fight. He had tried once, and Howl had hit him so hard his teeth had rattled in his head. It had become routine for him to beat his hands to a pulp in the middle of the night, and the next morning Howl would piece him back together.

“What’s she look like?” Howl asked, gently cleaning away the dried blood.

“Pretty. Curly hair, hazel eyes. She’s got way more substance than those Twi’leks that Reid likes to go after.”

They fell into quiet as Howl finished wrapping up his left hand, and switched to his right.

“I think she’s a good person. Just a little lost, like us,” Yulick said. Howl glanced to Yulick’s face and saw the melancholy expression.

He smiled, dabbing some ointment onto the cracks of Yulick’s knuckles. “Maybe you should talk to her.”

Yulick nodded absently.

“Maybe.”

* * *

Georgia wasn’t sure when she woke up, but when she did the gym was empty save for one person.

She sat up and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes, a yawn split her face. She cleared her throat and shifted to the edge of the mats, hand settling on the shirt she’d been using as a pillow. She glanced down at it and felt the fabric of it between her fingers. It was softer than she expected.

“Yulick’s been walking around shirtless all day,” the other person said, startling Georgia.

Her gaze snapped up and found a clone lifting weights across of her. He was laying perpendicular to her, so she managed to pick out the scar on his temple.

It was Cody.

“He didn’t give me his only shirt, did he?” She asked, a light blush spreading over her face. She was going to feel awful if he had literally offered the shirt off his back so she could have a _pillow_.

“No, but he likes to tease the others,” Cody replied, exhaling as he completed a set of reps.

Georgia tried not to ogle the Commander, but she became keenly aware that he was not wearing a shirt. A thin sheen of sweat across his bronze skin made his muscles glisten as he flexed, and her ‘still-waking-up’ brain found it very difficult to look away.

The words “I’m not worth teasing” fell from her mouth before she could stop them.

Cody turned his head to look at her, quirking an eyebrow. “It’s not everyday we have a gorgeous woman on board to look at.”

Her blush deepened and she looked away, “You’re just saying that. I saw at least three other women here.”

“We all have individual tastes,” he shrugged, setting the weighted bar in its place. He sat up and shook out his arms.

The movement was very distracting. A thought suddenly popped into her head as she looked at Cody’s glistening biceps.

“Do you have a shower?” She blurted.

His mouth slowly curled into a grin, “I do, but there are communal areas, too.”

She glared half-heartedly, “I didn’t mean _you_ , specifically.”

“Ouch,” he laughed aloud. She refused to look at him.

“Look, I haven’t showered in god knows how long, and I’m starting to smell myself. It’s not pretty,” she reasoned.

“You sure?” he teased, bending down to grab a water bottle.

She rolled her eyes, “I’m not gonna shove my armpit in your face to confirm, but yes I’m sure I stink.”

He choked on a swig of water, laughing. “We’ll get you to Kix first so he can check on you, then we’ll see about getting you cleaned up.”

“Great, let’s go,” she said, hopping off the mats, grabbing Yulick’s top.

“What if I wasn’t done?” he challenged.

“You just want to sit here and show off, but spoiler alert: I already know you’re a tough guy, so let’s go. Chop, chop. I want to shower,” she made for the door, clapping her hands.

His brow rose in surprise, but he quickly scooped up the rest of his things and jogged after her. He caught up to her just down the hall, “You know, if anyone spoke to me like that, I’d have to take disciplinary action.”

“Oh, I bet you would,” she said in a sultry voice, clearly teasing him, but quickly switched energies. “I have no idea where I’m going, by the way.”

He chuckled, he liked her when she let her guard down. “This way.”

* * *

Roobs was with Kix when Cody led Georgia into the med bay. They both jumped up at their approach and started fussing over Georgia. The attention made her uncomfortable, it wasn’t often she was the center of focus.

“How are you feeling, hon?” Roobs asked, grabbing hold of her head to take a look at her eyes.

“Better. Cody said there’s showers?” She replied, glancing to the Commander out of the corner of her eye.

“Mh-hm,” Roobs hummed an affirmative as she checked Georgia’s temperature.

“Great, can I shower, please?”

“Sure, I think there’s a pair of coveralls you can change into.” Roobs scribbled something on her datapad. She opened a drawer under the bed opposite of the Georgia’s and retrieved a pair of black coveralls.

“Here, hon. Bring your other clothes back and we’ll get them washed up for you.”

“Thanks, Roobs,” Georgia took the coveralls, surprised again at the softness of the fabric. It felt a lot like Yulick’s shirt.

“Commander, could you show Georgia the showers? I have some inventory to catch up on and could use Kix’s help,” Roobs requested, glancing to Cody.

“ _Inventory_ , huh?” Cody cocked his head to the side, smirking.

“Yes, _inventory_. You obviously don’t have Commander-ly duties to be doing, because you’re here and not one of the boys,” Roobs narrowed her eyes and pushed Georgia and Cody towards the med bay entrance.

Cody rolled his eyes and said petulantly, “I always have _‘Commander-ly duties’_.”

“Course you do, hon. Now, go get our girl cleaned up and get her something to eat, okay? Thanks, Commander,” Roobs shoved them the rest of the way out the door and shut it quickly behind them.

Georgia stared at the closed door for several seconds, then turned to the Cody and said, “They’re banging, aren’t they?”

Cody laughed and clasped a hand on her shoulder, leading her down the hall.

“We all think so, but they’ve never confirmed it…”


	5. Chapter 5

_So_.

There were two types of communal showers, one for the troopers and one for the civilians.

Cody showed Georgia the civilian showers, and told her he couldn’t go inside out of respect for civvies privacy. That was all well and good, until she tried to turn on the shower. The interior reminded her a lot of swimming pool showers, except these had privacy curtains she could pull around her little stall.

She poked her head back out the door and found Cody leaning against the wall, tapping away on a datapad that came from where _she had absolutely no idea._

“Hey,” she greeted shyly.

He turned her, “That was quick.”

“Shut up,” she flushed, “I don’t know how to work anything.”

“Just push the button,” he said.

“Which button? There’s, like, _eight_ ,” she intoned.

He chuckled, “The top two control pressure, up and down. The next pair control temperature, hot and cold. The bottom set is the same for drying off.”

Her eyes widened, “Wait, it’ll blow dry _my whole body_?”

“It will,” he laughed at her intrigued expression. “Go on, give it a try. I’ll wait ‘til you’re done.”

"Thanks, Cody!” She called as she ducked back into the showers.

After receiving Cody’s instructions, Georgia’s shower went straightforward and without incident. The blow-drying aspect was… _different_. She wasn’t sure she liked it, but that was something to ruminate on at a later time. She slipped into the black coveralls that Roobs had provided and was instantly impressed, the fabric was flexible and incredibly comfortable.

As she stretched her arms to test the range of the coveralls, movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention.

It was her, in a mirror. It was the first time she had seen her reflection since arriving in that world, and she was shocked to say the least.

She stepped up to her reflection gingerly, captured but the visage of the pale woman looking back at her. There were bags beneath her eyes, and she looked surprisingly ghost-like. Her shoulder-length, dirty blonde hair hung in its typical tight curl, albeit a bit frizzy from the drying experience. There was a patch of yellow-green skin across her left cheek, probably from her rough entry into the _Star Wars_ universe.

She probably looked much better than before her shower. Georgia was glad she hadn’t seen herself beforehand.

Collecting her dirty clothing, she left the washroom with mixed feelings. Cody was still leaning against the wall messing with his datapad, and looked up at her exit.

“So? How’d it go?” He asked, smiling. In his opinion, she looked much more refreshed, perhaps a little bewildered.

“Why didn’t you say I look like shit?” She asked with a scowl.

He tilted his head slightly, “Like shit?”

“Yeah. Baggy eyes, frizzy hair, white as a ghost? No one mentioned I had _bruising_ on my fuckin’ face,” she pointed at her cheek, tucking her clothes under her other arm.

Cody shrugged, “I’ve seen worse.”

Georgia rolled her eyes, “Sure, but that doesn’t mean I don’t look like crap.”

“I didn’t think you did,” he said. “Come on, let’s head to mess.”

Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny as the Commander turned on his heel and strode off.

* * *

There were a few groups of clones scattered about the cafeteria when Cody and Georgia arrived. He led her through the tables to the back where the food was available to dish up. Most of the troopers nodded respectfully at Cody as he passed, giving Georgia curious looks as she followed. She smiled back at them.

She wondered how many of them knew about her circumstances, and what kind of rumors were flying.

Cody grabbed a couple plates and moved down the line, scooping up what looked like a pale chili. Georgia followed obediently as he moved to one of the tables, setting the plates down. She sat down across from him and set her clothes on the floor beside her feet.

He slid one of the plates across the table for her.

“Thank you,” she said, grabbing the spoon to pick at the unfamiliar food. “What is it?”

“It’s a stew, it’s pretty bland—shouldn’t upset your stomach,” he said taking a bite of his own helping.

She picked up a spoonful and took a sniff, there wasn’t much of a smell coming from it. Tasting it proved Cody’s statement, it really wasn’t too flavourful. The texture really did remind her of chili.

As she took another bite, the doors opened and a rowdy group of troopers paraded inside, laughing and jeering at one another. She thought she recognized Yulick as one of them, although he trailed behind the group.

He looked tired.

The group grabbed their own food and once they set sights on Cody, made a direct line towards him.

“Commander!” They greeted him excitedly.

Georgia recognized Waxer sit next to the Cody, and Boil next to him. “Who’s better with the deecees, me or Boil?”

Cody pretended to think about it as the rest of the troopers took seats around the table. As one of them tucked in beside Georgia, she gave him a small smile. It was Yulick. He smiled back and dug into his meal.

“Max,” Cody said with a nod and a smirk.

Max whooped at the end of the table and Waxer scoffed in playful outrage. “Max wasn’t even an option!”

“I make my own options,” Cody quirked an eyebrow as the group chuckled.

Georgia listened as they made fun of one another and wagered playful bets about who could bench more weight or run the quickest.

They truly were just a big group of brothers.

“Eat, Georgia,” Cody said, interrupting her thoughts and gesturing to her still full plate.

She realized then that somehow they had all nearly finished their dinners and she had hardly touched hers.

She took another bite without argument, and worked to slowly eat most of the plate. She really wasn’t hungry, but knew she should probably put something in her stomach. There was still a fair third of a portion left when she set down the spoon.

“You’re not finished,” Cody said pointedly.

Georgia shook her head, “I’m done.”

He gave her a look she wasn’t sure how to interpret, but he didn’t argue with her. She was thankful, she didn’t really want to make a fuss in front of all the clones at the table.

Before he could say anything, his communicator bleeped and his presence was requested on the bridge.

“One of you boys get Georgia back to Roobs and Kix,” he ordered as he stood, collecting his dishes and Georgia’s.

“Yes, sir,” Yulick replied as Cody walked away.

Georgia gave Yulick a shy smile, “If you show me the way, I might not need a chaperone every time I go somewhere.”

He smiled back, “Of course.”

Yulick was very concise in his directions, and even told her what turns to take to get to most of the important facilities—the gym, the washrooms, and the hangar.

“I probably won’t remember all that, but I’ll try,” she chuckled as they approached the med bay.

He smiled, “If you ever get lost, just comm me.”

“I will,” she returned the smile.

* * *

Despite having slept most of the day, Georgia found she felt quite tired as Kix and Roobs checked her over. They both recommended she lay down and sleep, pleased that she had eaten something.

Roobs took her dirty clothes and assured Georgia that they would be washed and returned to her in short order.

When she laid down on her assigned bed, she found Yulick’s shirt folded up on the pillow. It brought a smile to her face, and she tucked it under her chin.

Sleep came swiftly to her, and she did not dream.

* * *

Kix woke her the next morning to give her meds. As he finished up with her, Kenobi walked into the med bay.

“Good morning, everyone,” he greeted warmly.

“General,” Kix nodded.

“Good morning, Obi-Wan!” Roobs waved, coming out from the offices.

“I’m afraid I’m not just here for pleasure,” Kenobi apologized, “I came to have a word with your patient.”

Georgia stood up and rounded her bed, collecting her wild hair into a loose ponytail.

“What’s up?”

“Will you take a walk with me?” He smiled, clasping his hands behind his back.

She nodded, “Sure.”

They two left the med-bay and walked in quiet for several minutes. Georgia wondered idly where he would be taking her, when he took a turn into a room that was mostly empty, save for a long conference table with uncomfortable looking chairs.

The door closed behind them, and Georgia felt her blood pressure ratchet up.

 _Damn insecurity_ , she thought darkly to herself.

“I brought you here because there’s no one to overhear our conversation,” he gestured around the empty room.

Georgia nodded, “Understandable, but what’s going on?”

“Anakin’s been called to Christophsis,” Kenobi announced, facing her with a concerned expression.

“Okay…” She frowned in contemplation. That was another clue as to when she had been dropped into the timeline. Before the second Geonosis attack, and before Christophsis… That meant she was near the chronological beginning of the animated series.

_Maybe less than a year into the war?_

“There’s a blockade there, right?” She looked to him for confirmation as she leaned her elbows down on the back of a chair in front of her.

“Yes.”

“Is Bail Organa on the surface?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, “Yes.”

She nodded slowly, trying to decide what the ask next.

“I assume that we’re going to rendezvous with the _Resolute_ so Skywalker and the 501st can head on over, then?”

“That is correct, they should be leaving today,” Kenobi crossed his arms and worried at his beard. It seemed to be his nervous tick.

“I’m quite certain that the leader of the blockade is Admiral Trench,” she revealed, watching Kenobi closely for his reaction.

He frowned deeply, “I thought he was killed?”

Georgia shrugged, “He was alive where I come from, but maybe tell Anakin to scan the ships a little closer for his emblem. Just in case.”

Kenobi nodded and said emphatically, “ _Thank you_ , Georgia.”

She sighed, “Look, I’m more than happy to tell you things like this, but I’m afraid if I tell you the outcome of any fight, that people will change how they react in the situation.” She rubbed her face with a groan, “This is what I want to talk to Yoda about.”

“I understand, and if it’s any consolation, I agree with what you’re doing,” he smiled gently.

She glanced at him through her fingers.

“Anakin’s still young, impulsive. Knowledge is just as dangerous of a weapon as a lightsaber,” he conceded.

“ _’The pen is mightier than the sword’_ ,” Georgia said, dropping her hands to her sides.

“Indeed,” he agreed. “Once they are on their way, we should arrive on Coruscant shortly after.”

Georgia’s gut coiled anxiously, “Will I be able to talk to Yoda right away?”

Kenobi nodded, “Yes, he is eager to meet with you, too.”

“Good, I feel like I’m sitting on nails,” Georgia confessed with a huff.

He laughed lightly. “I can only imagine.”

* * *

Her fear of the unknown made Georgia seek out Rex. The 501st Captain had been in the hangar, making last minute preparations for their transfer back to the _Resolute_. A few of his subordinates were helping out, making quick work of the tasks needed to be done. She didn't recognize them.

“Hey, Rex,” she called as she approached, hands in her pockets so he wouldn’t see her fidgeting.

He turned at her voice, and smiled in greeting. “Georgia.”

“I heard you guys were shipping out, and I just wanted to say bye,” she admitted with a shrug.

Rex’s smile widened, “Really?”

“Yeah! I mean, I’m not sure when I’ll see you guys again,” she drawled nervously. Truthfully, she figured by the time she had spoken with Yoda, Skywalker would call for reinforcements to break through the blockade guarding Christophsis. However, that didn’t mean she’d _see_ them. It was unlikely that she would get to the surface, not that she really had the desire to set foot in a warzone.

“I’m sure it’ll be sooner than you think,” he said playfully, returning her wink from earlier.

She laughed and knocked her shoulder against his, “That sounds like something _I_ should say!”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I have the gift of foresight,” he chuckled.

Georgia snorted, “Oh, you’ve got a _gift_ all right…”

He laughed and carefully shouldered her back.

The anxious knot in her stomach slowly released as she joked with the Captain, and she felt more at ease as the 501st officers and Skywalker boarded a set of gunships to return to the _Resolute_.


	6. Chapter 6

There was an excited buzz in the air as the _Negotiator_ got closer and closer to Coruscant. The troopers were thrilled at the chance to have a night off and hit up 79s. A select group were to stay behind and keep an eye on things, and they received an exorbitant amount of teasing from their brothers.

Georgia felt both excitement and anxiety as they drew closer. She was ready to get everything off her chest, but she had to admit that she was absolutely _petrified_ of Palpatine. She felt some modicum of relief that Skywalker wasn’t around to inform the Chancellor of her existence, but that didn’t mean that the impulsive Jedi wouldn’t contact him remotely.

He was a wild card, and she couldn’t count on him.

When Kenobi came to collect her from the med bay, she was more than ready to get everything done.

They left the _Negotiator_ in quiet.

Georgia’s first glimpse of Coruscant was breath-takingly shocking.

On the surface, it seemed like any other city. The deeper she looked, the more she found things that were straight out of science fiction. Vehicles flew through the air. Structures that shouldn’t have held up with gravity— _did_. Alien symbols were painted across the sides of buildings, and the billboard she saw was advertising something that she couldn’t recognize, but it was definitely _not_ meant for humans.

Georgia stumbled over her own feet as they reached the end of the ramp.

“Watch your step,” Kenobi chuckled good-naturedly, leading her through the busy buzz of troopers on the landing platform.

She glared half-heartedly at the back of his head, but tried to quit gawking around and pay attention to her immediate surroundings.

Things looked similar to how she remembered the animated series, but she was _never_ going to be able to find her way around the place.

It took the pair at least thirty minutes to enter a building that exhibited structure she expected in the Jedi Temple.

Again, she attempted to pay attention to Kenobi, but it was impossible to resist the draw to explore something that should have been fiction to her. People walked by them and acknowledged Kenobi with respect, but didn’t particularly pay attention to her. She tried desperately not to stare at the people that were alien, but when Kit Fisto passed by she turned sharply on her heel as he grinned brightly.

She grinned right back and returned his friendly wave.

Kenobi chuckled again, having stopped several paces ahead of her.

“Is he always so friendly?” She asked, hurrying to catch up.

“Most definitely. Kit Fisto has one of the biggest hearts I know,” he smiled genuinely.

Soon after, Kenobi stopped outside a simple, grey door. He tapped the command box next to it, and the door hissed open to reveal a small, round room. In the center of the space Yoda sat on a little grey stool, meditating.

His large, brown eyes opened and found Georgia’s immediately. Her heart stopped in her chest, and she found herself trapped in his gaze. He held her eyes for several, long, beats before a smile curled his lips and he waved her in.

“Welcome, young one.”

She smiled back nervously and tentatively stepped inside. Kenobi closed the door behind her, and it made her flinch slightly.

Yoda chuckled, “No need for fear, here. Come, sit.”

Georgia drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she moved to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of the little, green Jedi Master.

For several minutes they studied one another in quiet. Yoda was exactly as she imagined, and she felt both awe and nervousness being in his presence. He was short, and the shade of his skin was akin to olives. The top of his head had a halo of wispy, white hairs, and his skin was deeply wrinkled. When he smiled, crow's feet nestled around his eyes, and his large, pointed ears twitched. 

Yoda was very interested in her. Through the force, he could feel every living thing. It was a skill that took many years to hone and refine, especially to the point that Masters could feel emotions from across the galaxy. He could barely feel this woman's life right before him. Certainly, she sat in front of him, living and breathing as much as he; however he found that he could only catch whispers of her through the Force. What he did garner from those moments was her thundering anxiety.

She looked like other humans, perhaps more exhausted and strained than average. Her hair was a lighter colour, like Kenobi's. Her eyes were a hazel colour, not unlike his own. Her rounded face was pinched in a deep frown and she fidgeted nervously. 

“In my world,” she started, eyes flicking back up to meet his, “you’re depicted as a mentor, a leader.”

He said nothing, but placed one hand atop the other on his walking stick.

Her brow furrowed and she wrung her hands apprehensively. “I want to help the Republic, but I’m scared that you won’t believe what I have to say.”

Yoda hummed, “Understand your fear, I do.”

She smiled nervously. “I don’t know how much of a surprise what I have to say will be, but I _will_ be able to prove it.”

He nodded, “Continue.”

Georgia took another deep breath, “To start: Chancellor Palpatine is Darth Sidious. He orchestrates both sides of the war, he’s shaping the galaxy into an Empire that he will rule. He had microchips put into every single clone trooper that will activate when he says the right phrase, then they’ll kill every Jedi that they see. It won’t be because they want to, it’ll be because the chips somehow control them.

“And he’s grooming Anakin Skywalker to become his apprentice,” she added quickly.

Yoda looked away, a frown marring his features. He was worryingly silent for several minutes. Georgia fought to sit still, to have patience while he digested her words.

He finally spoke, “Succeeds in your world, he does.”

She nodded solemnly, “Some troopers found out, but by that time it was too late. The Jedi Order was pretty well destroyed, and Sidious rose to power.

“I want to stop him. I don’t want to see so many people killed because of one man,” she said firmly, staring fiercely into Yoda’s eyes.

He held her gaze, and she noticed his eyes glimmer in the dim light.

“Have a plan, do you?” He asked finally.

“Not really, no. Short of telling you everything, my only plan was to collect proof to convince the others,” she scratched behind her ear anxiously, feeling a flush across her cheeks. “I know collecting evidence of the microchips will be easy enough, and I’m sure once Skywalker tells Palpatine about me, he’ll either try to kill me himself or have me shut up somehow.”

“A great danger, you will be in,” he warned, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” she said firmly, “and it’s not like I have a choice. I’m in this universe now, and I won’t see it go to hell.”

After a beat of thoughtful quiet, Yoda smiled softly, “Such determination, you have.”

She blushed, “Yes, well, there are people I care about here.” _I don’t want to see them die._

He nodded quietly and tapped his walking stick on the floor. “Stop Skywalker from speaking with the Chancellor, I cannot.”

“I know.”

“Right you are, that he may come for you.”

Georgia's shoulders tensed, “Then I say we try to control the narrative.”

Yoda tilted his head curiously.

“We _plan_ for Skywalker to tell Palpatine. Give him the time off to go see him, and then if the Separatists suddenly know of my existence, or assassins start coming for me, we’ll have proof.”

Yoda thought it through for several seconds. “Better protect you on Coruscant, we cannot. Many avenues to get to you, he will have.”

“The further away from him I am, the better I’ll feel,” Georgia admitted sheepishly.

Yoda nodded. “With Kenobi, you will stay.”

The news that she would stay on board a space ship in the middle of a galactic war brought her some relief, and she found the thought ironic. How many times had she fantasized about this kind of situation? But she had never considered the implications of her existence so heavily before. Sure, she'd dreamed about shooting Palpatine in his old, wrinkly face, but she had never thought about how she would go about it.

“I’ll do my best to stay out of the way,” she said. “I know having me around kind of throws a wrench in things.”

He chuckled again, “Belong here as much as the rest of us, you do. Do not underestimate yourself.”

She gave him a genuine smile, “I’ll try.”

“Do, or do no—”

She waved her hand and interrupted him, “’ _Do or do not, there is no try._ ’ I know.”

He tilted his head in bewilderment, then broke into amused chuckles.

* * *

Just as Georgia had predicted, Skywalker had called for reinforcements at Christophsis.

Georgia was back on board the _Negotiator_ within an hour, with hope and a plan. As much as she was interested in seeing all that Coruscant had to offer in real life, there was no one to show her around. Kenobi had returned her to the ship in short order, having gone to recall the troopers.

And Yoda would arrange to have one of the Coruscant Guard scanned for a chip, and he would contact her with results. 

As more clones flooded back on board, she tried to steer clear of the busier corridors. There was a rush of incoming supplies, and she felt as though she would only be in the way of the men as they worked.

Georgia ended up returning to the med bay, one of the few areas she knew how to find. There were a few troopers running in some crates of supplies, so she just ducked out of the way as they dropped off their load and jogged away.

Roobs came out from the offices in a hustle, clapping her hands excitedly at seeing the new crates.

“Finally!” She exclaimed, popping the lid off the first box.

Georgia stepped forward, peering curiously inside the grey, metal bin. “What’s got you so excited?”

“New drugs!” Roobs grinned. Her eyes glittered brightly as she dragged the first crate back towards the cupboards where she kept medicine and supplies.

Georgia’s eyebrows rose as she followed, “Oh? What kind of drugs?”

“Mostly analgesics, but there’s also a super new cream that supposed to work wonders on burns that I’m hoping will help out the boys that take blaster fire,” Roobs explained as she started unloading the contents onto the countertop.

“Has it been tested on blaster-fire burns?” Georgia asked, moving to help unload items.

She read a few labels, but the words made no sense to her. She felt disheartened for a moment, again feeling like a burden. At home, she was studying to become a biologist, and had taken some courses related to pharmacology. She knew how to read drug labels, but these ones might as well have been in an alien language.

She snorted to herself, _well, I am in an alien world_.

“Not blaster-fire, specifically,” said Roobs, double checking the number of little vials in a small box she had just grabbed. “But a colleague of mine at the hospital said it was almost like magic on a nasty burn he treated a couple months ago.” She shrugged, “If it doesn’t work, I just won’t request more of it.”

“Seems like a logical plan of action,” Georgia agreed, going to drag one of the other crates over.

“Oh, hon, you don’t have to help!” Roobs waved her hand dismissively.

“Yes, I do,” Georgia said firmly. “You’ve been nothing but helpful to me, and if I’m sticking around the least I can do is help out a little bit.”

“I’d say the information you have is more than enough help,” Roobs raised her eyebrow pointedly, then broke into another smile, “but I’m always happy to have help!”

The two women made quick work of unloading the crates, and Roobs started to meticulously put each item away in its particular spot.

Georgia handed her items as Roobs requested them.

“So, I have to ask,” Georgia said a few minutes later.

“Yeah?” Roobs encouraged, hopping up to kneel on the counter. She needed to reach the top shelf and couldn’t from the floor.

“I’ve been here for several days now, and I haven’t seen any other civilians since I got here.”

“Oh! Well, there’s truthfully not that many of us on board. Not a lot of people wanted to voluntarily ride in the cruisers that could join active battles, so most civvies are at outposts or in administrative positions,” Roobs elaborated. “The few of us that are on the _Negotiator_ actually meet up once every week or so for dinner in the rec room to catch up.”

“That sounds like fun,” Georgia smiled.

“Eh,” Roobs shrugged, “they’re all right. Teksi is a comms specialist, Hal works in the requisitions department, and Ollo works down in engineering. We actually just lost Feruia, she decided to leave the GAR and work with her husband in the Senate building.

“Now let me tell you, I’ll _never_ understand why. Politics are just _boring_. All anyone does is sit around and talk all day, and if you’re not talking to someone, they’re plotting some kind of revenge against you because you didn’t pay them any special mind,” Roobs rambled.

Georgia laughed and handed Roobs the next box of instruments to put away. “Sounds like you have a little experience?”

“My mother is a politician, she works with one of the Senators on Coruscant,” Roobs hummed. “She wanted me to follow her into that industry, but I take after my dad in that respect.”

“He’s a doctor?”

“Was, he’s just another casualty of the War now,” Roobs sighed.

“Oh,” Georgia was horrified at the turn in conversation. She didn't think she was very good at helping people through grief, so she just said the first thing that came to mind. “I’m so sorry, Roobs.”

The doctor shrugged, “I try not to think about it too much. There will be time to cry and mourn later, for now I have a very important job to do.”

“Your job is important, definitely,” Georgia agreed. She worried about overstepping boundaries, but didn't want Roobs to feel like she didn't care. “But in my experience, bottling things up long-term almost always ends badly.”

Roobs jumped down from counter suddenly, and Georgia feared she just pissed off the kind doctor.

The short redhead sighed deeply and dropped her head, “I know that. I _do_ , but if I stop and think about it… I’m just going to break down.”

Georgia smiled softly and gently checked her hip against Roobs’, “And that break down will only make you a stronger person. You’ll be able to build yourself back up, and become even better than you are now.”

Tears had welled in Roobs eyes, Georgia could see them glimmering as Roobs' looked at her.

“Whenever you’re ready to let go, if you need a friend to just sit there with you, I’ll be there,” Georgia offered, holding out the next little box to be put away.

An olive branch for the turn in the conversation.

Roobs sniffled once and blinked away the tears. Accepting the little container, she said in a wobbly voice, “I sure wish you’d have shown up sooner.”

The taller, heavier woman laughed lightly with Roobs, “That would have been too easy.”

* * *

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“No, ma’am.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Georgia sighed deeply. She was standing in the entrance to the barracks, next to Cody. She had asked Roobs where she should be sleeping, expecting the answer to not be the med bay, but _not_ expecting to be bunking with all the troopers.

“They’re gonna _hate_ me,” she grumbled, crossing her arms petulantly.

Cody tilted his head curiously, “What makes you think that?”

“This is _their_ space. The place where they can be themselves without judgement, and you’re just gonna throw some strange woman into that dynamic?” She waved at the general space of the barracks.

“You’re overthinking it. The other civvies sleep in here, too,” he shrugged.

She rolled her eyes, “So it’s not okay to share a washroom, but it’s okay to share a bedroom?”

“Well, there’s a supply closet over her—”

“— _Fuck’s sake_ , don’t be like that,” Georgia spat.

Cody raised an eyebrow, “Either you bunk here, or no where.”

She sighed again and rubbed at her temple. “Just tell me which bed isn’t occupied.”

He chuckled. “It won’t be that bad. They’re good men.”

“I don’t doubt that, it’s just that… thing’s are very different where I come from and every little thing just seems to be a reminder that I am _very_ far from home,” she mumbled.

He sent her a sympathetic look and reached over to give her shoulder a squeeze.

“If you ever need to talk to me, my quarters are just across the hall,” he smiled.

She glanced up into his sincere face, and was struck again at how different this Cody seemed to be from the one she had imagined. He had the warm, brown eyes and sharp, square jaw that she expected, but this softer demeanor was rather unlike the Commander she knew.

Perhaps that was it. She only really knew him as a Commander, and not as _Cody_.

* * *

The _Negotiator_ set off towards Christophsis as soon as the last trooper was aboard, and the supplies had been delivered.

Georgia wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the feeling of the floor humming beneath her feet, or the vibrations in the walls as the engines powered up.

She was in the med bay again, helping Roobs organize the last of the new supplies. She found that she worked well with the stout redhead. They had fun conversations and were able to openly tease one another. Time seemed to fly by, and before Georgia knew it Roobs was calling it quits to head to mess for some dinner.

Georgia followed the bubbly doctor out of the med bay, although she didn’t feel like eating anything.

“How are you doing? You did quite a bit today,” Roobs asked.

Georgia glanced at her quickly, “You didn’t hear my thoughts, did you?”

Roobs shook her head with a snort, “I’m not a Jedi!”

“Well, I was just thinking I’m not super hungry,” Georgia explained.

Roobs pursed her lips thoughtfully, “Hm. Still not much of an appetite?”

Georgia shook her head.

“If it doesn’t get better in another day or two, I might give you something for that...” the doctor mumbled aloud, scribbling a note in her datapad that she whipped out of her lab coat.

Georgia shrugged, “Fast way to drop some weight, if I’m not eating.”

“As a fellow scientist, you know that’s not true,” Roobs narrowed her eyes at Georgia.

Georgia shrugged again, “I know, but it makes me feel better.”

Roobs opened her mouth to argue as they entered the mess hall.

There was a fair bit of chatter as quite a few troopers were present. Some were dressed in armor, some in just in their blacks, and a few of them were wearing the greys that most only wore on the bridge.

“Seriously, Georgia. Your health is important, and not eating is going to _hurt you_.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Georgia scowled, continuing to follow Roobs to the back of the mess.

“Who’s fine?” A clone piped up, having suddenly appeared behind Georgia.

“Hey, Howl, how’s your shoulder, hon?” Roobs greeted over her shoulder as she grabbed a plate and started dishing up. “Make a plate, Georgia.”

“Oh, it’s all better. One-hundred percent!” Howl grinned.

“Glad to hear it!”

Georgia grabbed a plate without argument, but didn’t put much food on it. Roobs glared sternly at her.

“Look, there’s food on my plate. I’m going to eat it,” she huffed, gesturing to the little helping of what looked like mac and cheese.

“Not enough,” said Roobs, leading them to a table.

Georgia rolled her eyes. They sat at the end of a table that didn’t have any occupants. Howl sat beside Georgia, and eyed her plate with disdain.

“I could eat that in two bites,” said the trooper.

Georgia threw her hands in the air, “Well, why don’t _you_ get pulled into an alternate dimension and deal with the fallout of your body _tearing itself apart_! Maybe you won’t be very hungry!”

The mess quieted for a beat at her outburst, and she felt incredibly self-conscious. She felt her cheeks warm with a heavy blush.

“Oh, you’re _that_ civvie,” Howl mused, taking no offense at her outburst. He supposed he truly didn’t understand what she was going through, and perhaps her body needed more time to adjust.

The chatter in the mess returned to normal as Georgia fought to rein in her temper.

Another trooper dropped a tray across from Howl and settled into his seat, “Don’t be rude, Howl.”

Howl rolled his eyes, “I’m not rude.”

“I beg to differ,” Yulick said, tucking into his dinner.

“Only because you’re my brother.”

“I’d say it even if you weren’t.”

Georgia realized that the clone sitting next to her was Yulick’s brother, the one he had talked about the night he’d found her outside the gym. Sitting across of each other, she couldn’t help but compare their appearances.

They both had the regulation hair cut, no special cuts or colours. When Howl turned to look at her, she was surprised to see that his right eye was a crisp blue, and she noticed that they both had three little bars tattooed on their jaw line on opposite sides of one another. 

She didn’t dare ask the significance, not yet. As the two troopers continued to goad one another, Georgia managed to eat the meager helping of food on her plate. Like her last meal, it didn’t taste like much and went down easy.

Roobs watched her closely, and was tempted to unload half of her helping onto her patient’s plate. She checked that urge, and chose to let Georgia win that battle.

Roobs would win the war.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! I wish everyone the best for this coming adventure that will surely be 2021, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“A biologist, hey? Any specific field?”

Georgia pursed her lips, “I was considering a few different fields, actually. I always thought research would be interesting, paleontology is _fascinating_ , but I always did have a knack for genetics.”

Roobs laughed, “Those are some very diverse interests!”

“I know,” Georgia chuckled, “I was just taking all the classes I could. I enjoyed them all so much, I couldn’t choose.”

“Ever consider medicine?”

“I took a couple courses related to it, but hadn’t given it a ton of thought,” she admitted.

“In that case, here,” Roobs walked over to her office and disappeared inside for a second. Georgia heard some shuffling of things, then Roobs reappeared with a datapad in hand, and held it out to Georgia.

Her brow rose, “What’s that?”

“It’s essentially an encyclopedia on known species throughout the galaxy, their histories, physiology, cultures, and basic treatment options.”

“Oh!” Georgia crowed excitedly, taking the datapad with enthusiasm. “How do I operate this thing?”

Roobs snickered, “I forget that you’re not from here. Press here to turn it on, and the rest of it’s touch interface.”

Roobs smiled at the bright-eyed curiosity on Georgia’s face as she fiddled with the datapad. She was such a genuine soul, it broke Roobs’ heart to know that such a bright mind wouldn’t contribute to her own world’s science.

Perhaps there was a place here for her, though.

Roobs moved to return to her office, there was some figurative paperwork to complete.

“Thank you, Roobs,” Georgia called after the doctor, grinning sunnily.

“You’re welcome, hon! When you’re finished with that one, I have another for you.”

Georgia settled down on the nearest bed, propped herself up on the headboard and opened up the first file that popped up.

An hour later, General Kenobi and Commander Cody walked into the med bay.

“Ah, Miss Georgia, just the trans-dimensional woman I was looking for!” Kenobi greeted warmly.

Georgia didn’t look up from her datapad and responded with a simple grunt, “Uh huh.”

Cody raised an eyebrow and Kenobi tilted his head curiously, noting the datapad in her hands, “Georgia?” 

“Yeah?” She responded, but still didn’t look up.

“I see you’ve found something of great interest,” Kenobi chuckled as he and Cody approached her.

“Did you know that Gungans have water-proof mucus glands?” She asked, finally glancing up at them.

“I did not know that, no. What have you got there?” He gestured to the datapad.

“Oh, Roobs gave it to me. I was studying biology at home and she thought I might enjoy this,” Georgia turned the datapad so Kenobi could see the file on Gungan physiology.

Kenobi smiled, “I’m glad she found something for you to do.”

“Me, too,” Georgia huffed.

“I’m afraid we didn’t just stop by to say hello—” he started.

“—You never do,” Georgia interrupted. “What’s up?”

Kenobi shook his head, “We’ve reached Christophsis. Anakin confirmed that Admiral Trench heads the blockade.”

“Huh, so my intel’s pretty good,” Georgia hummed, tapping on her bottom lip.

“Indeed,” Kenobi nodded.

“So, you’re here for another tiddly-bit of information?” She smirked, hopping off the bed.

“ _Tiddly-bit_?” He murmured, then shook his head with a small, confused smile. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

“Well, that invisible ship in the hangar will help you tremendously,” she said. Kenobi raised his eyebrows in surprise, but Georgia kept talking. “But you’ll have to be careful once you hit the surface. They’ll be jamming communications.”

Kenobi nodded, “Understood, thank you again, Georgia.”

She smiled and returned his nod, “Of course.”

As the two men turned to leave, she gasped then called after the Commander quickly.

“ _Cody_!”

He turned on his heel and lifted his helmet off his head, “Yes?”

She stepped up to him, worrying her bottom lip. “When you guys hit topside, you need to know that when shit hits the fan… it was Slick.”

He frowned, “What do you mean?”

She rubbed her neck anxiously, “Just, watch your back. Extra careful, this time, okay?”

He could see the anxious concern in her face, something he hadn’t seen in her before. Her brow was crinkled with worry, and he could tell she was chewing the inside of her cheek.

He clapped a hand on her shoulder reassuringly and smiled softly, “I will.”

She nodded hesitantly, and watched him go with a feeling of unease. A lot of good men died on Christophsis. She could only hope that knowing what they were walking into would lower that number.

Her shoulder tingled warmly.

* * *

For the next several days, Georgia sat on pins and needles. Her concern for the men fighting on Christophsis only mounted with each passing day. To distract herself, she buried her attention in the datapad that Roobs had given her. She had figured out a notation feature that she could scribble digital notes on top the info on the screen, and took full advantage of it. Each page was full of highlights, underlines, and short-hand notes.

She sat on her bed, cross-legged and bent over the datapad.

The barracks were empty, all the troopers off fighting. The eeriness of such a large, empty room normally full of life only served as incentive to dive deeper into the little tablet of information.

She only felt the need to eat twice. Roobs had weaned her off the meds not long ago, and her nausea still reared its ugly head whenever she thought of food.

She hadn’t told Roobs of it, attributing most of it to the anxiety running rampant through her gut.

Four days later, far longer than she had originally expected, she received news that Ghost Company was returning to the _Negotiator_.

She had expected certain discrepancies, but she hadn’t anticipated that that passage of time would be so much longer than in the series.

_“Georgia! I could use your help!”_ Roobs’ voice crackled through Georgia’s comm link.

She set the datapad down and collected her commlink from the end of the bed. She had been reading about the Quarren and how their lungs were able to adapt to both aquatic and terrestrial environments.

“What’s going on?” Georgia replied, slipping her boots on and rolled out of the bottom bunk she had claimed as her own. It was near the door, so she wouldn’t disturb anyone when she inevitably would wake and feel the need to wander.

_“Our boys are coming home, and there’s a lot of wounded. I could use an extra pair of hands!”_

Georgia did not have any confidence in herself when it came to treating people, hell whenever she hurt herself, she just slapped a Band-Aid on it and took a pain killer. But these people needed help, and the least she could do was lend a hand.

“On my way.”

With a slight, anxious tremble in her hands, she booked it towards the med bay.

* * *

The med bay was a flurry of activity when Georgia arrived.

Men were shouting, groaning in pain, and others were running injured in and out. Roobs was only a couple beds down the aisle, setting what looked like a broken arm.

Upon first inspection, Georgia was incredibly pleased she didn’t recognize anyone.

“Georgia! Get over here!” Roobs barked.

She darted over, dodging a couple troopers as they thundered out, “What can I do?”

“I need you to start organizing injuries here. The most serious come directly to me, and I’m giving you authority to perform triage and kick out anyone that’s not hurt or helping, _understood_?”

Georgia felt her heart leap into her throat. That was a lot of responsibility, and the most she really knew was first aid from home. _Who knew if that was any good here?_

“Georgia! _Now_!”

The blonde nodded quickly, “Okay, okay!”

She turned and took a couple quick breaths, swallowing down her nerves. _Okay,_ _I can do this._

Georgia grabbed a datapad and jogged to back of the room, to the furthest beds where a pair of clones sat together on one bed. They both had their helmets off, and one held his arm to his chest weakly. The other had an arm wrapped around the one with the arm wound, and Georgia noted blood on his left shin armor.

“Okay,” she approached them, making eye contact with the man with a bloody leg. “What’s your name?”

“CT-two—”

Georgia shook her head, “No, your _name_?”

“Lister, ma’am,” he replied after a moment of hesitation, uncertainty evident in his eyes.

“’kay Lister, where’s the blood coming from?” Georgia asked, noting the location of his wound and his name on the datapad.

“I took some blaster fire to the knee, between my armor, ma’am,” he reported, wincing as he jostled his injured leg.

Georgia kneeled down to inspect his knee and could clearly see some burned tissue that was oozing blood. His blacks had been scorched away.

She grimaced, “Are you able to remove your armor?”

“I-I don’t think so,” he flushed. “It hurts to bend my knee.”

“Understandably so,” Georgia said. “Can you tell me how to take it off?”

He nodded and directed her through the simple process. She was extremely careful in touching him, terrified of causing him any more pain. Somehow, she managed to strip away his lower leg armor without eliciting another wince from him.

“Okay, Lister. I’m just going to wrap this quickly to stem the bleeding until Roobs can look at you, all right?” Georgia said, opening a drawer beneath the bed. She knew where most of the supplies were kept by then, having helped Roobs restock and take inventory.

She pulled out some sterile gauze and looked to Lister for acknowledgement. He nodded and braced himself for her to touch the wound.

“Deep breaths, sweetie,” she encouraged, the endearment slipping out. She didn’t give it much thought, making quick work of wrapping his knee.

Once it was wrapped, Georgia grabbed her datapad and turned to his companion.

“Name, sweetie?” She asked, jotting down a quick note at what time she wrapped Lister’s burn.

“It’s uh—it’s Fancy, ma’am,” he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

Georgia took another quick study of the trooper, and noted his slouched posture.

“No ma’am necessary, deary,” she gestured to his right arm he was holding against his chest. “What’s going on there?”

“Uh, pretty s-sure I broke my wrist,” he stuttered.

Georgia nodded, “Anything else hurt?”

He shook his head.

She scribbled a quick note and ducked back into the drawer to collect a sling. “Okay Fancy, can you take off your glove?”

“I-I tried already. I couldn’t get it off,” he admitted, a dejected tone in his voice.

Georgia frowned, but quickly gave the seemingly nervous trooper a soft smile, “That’s okay, sweetie. I’m just gonna wrap your arm up in a sling here so you don’t have to hold it while you wait for Roobs, ‘kay?”

“Okay,” he whispered as he paled slightly.

As careful as she was with Lister, she settled Fancy’s elbow in the sling, then tied it off around his neck. “There, now let your hand lay there, perfect. Okay, just shout out if either of you needs anything else right away.”

They both nodded. Georgia kicked the drawer closed and turned on her heel to address the trooper laying on the bed beside Lister and Fancy.

Except he wasn’t conscious, and his skin was pale. She jumped forward and felt under his stubbled jaw for a pulse. She took a look up and down his body, looking for injuries.

There was a pool of blood under his lower back, but no injury evident on his front. She adjusted her index finger and finally felt a light, weak pulse. She bent over to put her face by his, trying to feel his breathing while watching his chest for movement. There wasn’t any.

“Roobs!” She shouted, panicked.

She heard scrambling as the doctor came running.

“What is it!” The shorter woman demanded, taking stock of the unconscious trooper.

“Blood under his back, I don’t think he’s breathing,” Georgia reported, stepping out of Roobs’ way.

“Felix! Get over here! Good catch, Georgia, keep going with the others,” Roobs said, immediately divesting the soldier of his armor.

Georgia shakily grabbed her datapad off the bed, and forced her feet to carry her to the next bed.

_Don’t think about it, just keep moving._

The clone on the next bed was sitting up with one leg elevated on a pillow. His jaw was clenched and he looked exceedingly uncomfortable.

“What’s you name?” Georgia asked, stepping up to him, quelling the trembling in her hands.

“Shorty,” he grumbled through his teeth, grimacing.

“Shorty, is it your leg?”

“Sprained ankle ‘s all,” he hissed.

“Okay, we’ll have Roobs take a look just to be sure, yeah? Can you get your boot off?” Georgia made a note next to his name.

He shook his head vigorously.

Georgia gently touched his fisted hand, “That’s okay, sweetie. Roobs will help you out, just hang in there.”

He stopped shaking his head and glanced up to her eyes.

“Focus on your breathing, and hold still,” she suggested with a smile.

Shorty nodded stiffly and took a deep breath. As he slowly exhaled, she grinned encouragingly and set off to the next bed.

The next clone had a similar burn to Lister, which Georgia wrapped carefully and sent him down to sit by Fancy and Lister.

She continued like that, lumping the troopers together with similar injuries. She had no idea if it would help Roobs, but at least she was being productive in performing first aid and drawing Roobs’ attention to the more critical cases.

Some time later, when all the most severely wounded men had been treated and been placed in bacta tanks, Roobs called Georgia over to help with the less severely injured.

Georgia made to hand Roobs her datapad with the relevant info, but the doctor refused it. “No, I need my hands free. I want you to guide me through them.”

Georgia fumbled slightly, “Oh, o-okay. Well, there’s one guy who could really use some pain killers…”


End file.
